Relationship Between Work-Family Conflict, Job Embeddedness, Workplace Flexibility, and Turnover Intentions

The present study seeks to propose and test a research model that investigates job embeddedness as a mediator and workplace flexibility as a moderator of the effect of family-work conflict on turnover intentions. This study uses a survey method and a structured questionnaire to collect data from 187 nurses working in various hospitals in Islamabad, Pakistan. The results showed that on-the-job embeddedness partially mediated the effect of work-family conflict on nurses\u27 turnover intention. Furthermore, workplace flexibility moderated the relationship between work-family conflict and turnover intention. Management of the hospitals should take decisive steps to establish and maintain a supportive and flexible work environment because such an environment would help nurses to balance their work (family) and family (work) roles and lead to increased job embeddedness. Otherwise, it would be very difficult to retain high performing nurses in the workplace. The current study contributes to the existing knowledge base by testing job embeddedness as a mediator and workplace flexibility as a moderator of the impact of work-family conflict on turnover intentions of nurses

Analyzing Energy-efficiency and Route-selection of Multi-level Hierarchal Routing Protocols in WSNs

The advent and development in the field of Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) in recent years has seen the growth of extremely small and low-cost sensors that possess sensing, signal processing and wireless communication capabilities. These sensors can be expended at a much lower cost and are capable of detecting conditions such as temperature, sound, security or any other system. A good protocol design should be able to scale well both in energy heterogeneous and homogeneous environment, meet the demands of different application scenarios and guarantee reliability. On this basis, we have compared six different protocols of different scenarios which are presenting their own schemes of energy minimizing, clustering and route selection in order to have more effective communication. This research is motivated to have an insight that which of the under consideration protocols suit well in which application and can be a guide-line for the design of a more robust and efficient protocol. MATLAB simulations are performed to analyze and compare the performance of LEACH, multi-level hierarchal LEACH and multihop LEACH.Comment: NGWMN with 7th IEEE Inter- national Conference on Broadband and Wireless Computing, Communication and Applications (BWCCA 2012), Victoria, Canada, 201

Frequency of Predisposing Factor of Nausea and Vomiting After Chest Surgery Under General Anaesthesia

Background: Postoperative nausea and vomiting are common and distressing postsurgical symptoms. These symptoms are of particular concern in outpatient surgery because they may require additional direct resources, such as supplies and antiemetic drugs, and may delay discharge. The objective of this study was to measure the frequency of factors which can cause nausea and vomiting under general anaesthesia after chest surgery. Methodology: This descriptive case series evaluated frequency of predisposing factor of nausea and vomiting in patients of anaesthesia department of Gulab Devi Hospital Lahore. Questionnaire is made and patients were asked about their age, fever, previous surgery, NPO status, smoking history and hospital stay. This study included 140 patients with post-operative nausea and vomiting. Results: In this study, 140 patients were taken in which  65 (46.43%) were female and 75 (53.57%) were male. In 140 patient 134 (95.7%) were NPO and 6 (4.3%) were not  NPO, 25 (17.9%) were obese and 115 (82.1%) were not obese, 88 (62.9%) patients were suffering fever and 52 (37.1%) were not suffering fever, 80 (57.1%) were infected and 59 (42.1%) were not infected, 53 (37.9%) patients had previous surgery and 87 (62.1%) had no previous surgery, 94 (67.1%) patients had received nitrous oxide and 46 (32.9%) didn\u27t, 97 (69.3%) received volatile gases and 43 (30.7%) not received, 29 (20.7%) received ketamine and 111 (79.3%) not received, 87 (62.1%) received suxamethonium and 53 (37.9%) not received, 119 (85.0%) received propofol and 21 (15.0%) not received, 110 (78.6%) received naluphine and 28 (20.0%) not received. Out of 140 patients, there were 122 (87.1%) who were suffering from pain and 18 (12.9%) were not. 91 (65.0%) patients had gastric distention and 49 (35.0%) patients didn\u27t. Opioids were given to 34 (24.3%) patients and not given to 106 (75.7%) patient. Conclusion: It is concluded that the nausea and vomiting after surgey under genral anesthesia is due to patient related factors in which most frequent is NPO. Drug related factors include propofol and nalbupin administration. Post operative factors include pain. In whole study of 140 patients, the  most frequent is patient related factor (NPO) other than drug related factors and post-operative factors

Equivalent Circuit Modeling of the Dielectric Loaded Microwave Biosensor

This article describes the modeling of biological tissues at microwave frequency using equivalent lumped elements. A microwave biosensor based on microstrip ring resonator (MRR), that has been utilized previously for meat quality evaluation is used for this purpose. For the first time, the ring-resonator loaded with the lossy and high permittivity dielectric material, such as; biological tissue, in a partial overlay configuration is analyzed. The equivalent circuit modeling of the structure is then performed to identify the effect of overlay thickness on the resonance frequency. Finally, the relationship of an overlay thickness with the corresponding RC values of the meat equivalent circuit is established. Simulated, calculated and measured results are then compared for validation. Results are well agreed while the observed discrepancy is in acceptable limit

Comparative Analysis of V-Akt Murine Thymoma Viral Oncogene Homolog 3 (AKT3) Gene between Cow and Buffalo Reveals Substantial Differences for Mastitis

AKT3 gene is a constituent of the serine/threonine protein kinase family and plays a crucial role in synthesis of milk fats and cholesterol by regulating activity of the sterol regulatory element binding protein (SREBP). AKT3 is highly conserved in mammals and its expression levels during the lactation periods of cattle are markedly increased. AKT3 is highly expressed in the intestine followed by mammary gland and it is also expressed in immune cells. It is involved in the TLR pathways as effectively as proinflammatory cytokines. The aims of this study were to investigate the sequences differences between buffalo and cow. Our results showed that there were substantial differences between buffalo and cow in some exons and noteworthy differences of the gene size in different regions. We also identified the important consensus sequence motifs, variation in 2000 upstream of ATG, substantial difference in the “3′UTR” region, and miRNA association in the buffalo sequences compared with the cow. In addition, genetic analyses, such as gene structure, phylogenetic tree, position of different motifs, and functional domains, were performed to establish their correlation with other species. This may indicate that a buffalo breed has potential resistance to disease, environment changes, and airborne microorganisms and some good production and reproductive traits

Coupled effect of cyclic wet-dry environment and vibration event on desiccation crack and mechanical characteristics of polypropylene fiber-reinforced clay

This study investigates the role of polypropylene fibers (PFs) in mitigating the combined effects of wet-dry (W-D) cycles and vibration event (VE), such as earthquake or machine vibrations, on the desiccation cracking and mechanical behavior of clay through model tests. A comprehensive experimental program was conducted using compacted clayey soil specimens, treated with various PF percentages (i.e., 0.2 %, 0.4 %, 0.6 %, and 0.8 %) and untreated (i.e., 0 % PF). These specimens were subjected to multiple W-D cycles, with their behavior documented through cinematography. Desiccation cracking and mechanical responses were evaluated after each W-D cycle and subsequent VE. Results indicated that surface cracking, quantified by morphology and crack parameters i.e., crack surface ratio (Rsc), total crack length (Ltc), and crack line density (Dcl), increased with progressive W-D cycles. Higher PF content in soil significantly reduced desiccation cracking across all W-D phases, attributable to the enhanced tensile strength and stress mitigation provided by the fibers. Following VE, surface crack and fragmentation visibility decreased due to the shaking effects, as indicated by reductions in Rsc and Dcl. However, Ltc increased slightly, suggesting either crack persistence or lengthening. Higher PF content resulted in a more substantial reduction in Rsc and Dcl and a reduced increase in Ltc after VE. W-D cycles led to increased cone index (CI) values, reflecting enhanced compactness due to shrinkage which enhances with PF content showing improved soil resistance to loading. Meanwhile, VE reduced CI values following W-D cycles, particularly in near surface layers, PF content mitigates this reduction, demonstrating that PF contributes to a more stable soil matrix. Also, PF content decreased the soil deformation under W-D cycles and subsequent VE

Big data-driven global modeling of cohesive soil compaction across conceptual and arbitrary energies through machine learning

This study aims to propose an intelligent modeling framework for accurately predicting compaction characteristics of cohesive soils across compaction energy (CE) levels. A comprehensive database of 1001 observations falling within the theoretical bounds was created through experimental investigation encompassing sieve analysis, hydrometer analysis, liquid limit (wL), plastic limit (wP), specific gravity (Gs), and compaction tests on natural soil samples and literature review, encompassing diverse cohesive soils, CE levels, and compaction characteristics. Multiple machine learning techniques, including Extreme Gradient Boosting (XGBoost), Random Forest (RF), Gene Expression Programming (GEP), Multi Expression Programming (MEP), Artificial Neural Networks (ANN), and Multiple Linear Regression (MLR), were applied to develop predictive models. XGBoost demonstrated superior performance in predicting maximum dry density (γdmax) and optimum moisture content (wopt) as evaluated by statistical indicators and external validation and compared with existing models in the literature. The proposed models effectively captured the influence of key parameters, highlighting the primary role of CE and wL, the secondary role of plastic limit (wP), the tertiary role of plasticity index (IP) and fines activity (AF), and the quaternary role of soil gradation in predicting and influencing the compaction characteristics of cohesive soils. This approach enables accurate global modeling of cohesive soil compaction across varying CE levels, providing a valuable tool for geotechnical engineers and researchers to determine compaction characteristics for a known CE level using basic soil properties used for soil classification

INFLUENCES OF ORGANIC AND INTEGRATED NUTRIENT MANAGEMENT ON PHYSICO-CHEMICAL PROPERTIES OF SOIL UNDER BASMATI-WHEAT CROPPING SEQUENCE

The present study entitled “Influences of organic and integrated nutrient management on physico-chemical properties of soil under basmati-wheat cropping sequence” was carried at Punjab Agriculture University, Farm on basmati-wheat sequence. The experimental treatments consisted of inorganic fertilizers, organic manures and integrated nutrient management. The cumulative infiltration ranged from 0.9 to 2.4 cm after 1 min under different treatments, the value being highest (2.4 cm after 1 min) in treatments receiving organic manures alone, recommended fertilizer + 200 kg N ha-1 from FYM (1.3 cm after 1 min) than control (0.9 cm after 1 min) and RF alone (1.1 cm after 1 min). The highest values of Soil organic carbon (0.6 %), mineral nitrogen (79.5 mg ha-1), ammonium acetate extractable potassium (145.8 mg kg-1) and bray-I Phosphorus (22.0 mg kg-1 ) in surface soil were recorded in plots receiving 400 kg N ha-1 from vermicompost (VC),  rice straw compost (RSC) and farm yard manure (FYM) respectively, which was significantly higher than control, recommended fertilizer alone or in combination with chemical fertilizers (the values in latter i.e RF + FYM being significantly higher than former two treatments i.e control and RF) but at par with other organic treatments, the value of all the four parameters decreased with the depth of profile. The lowest value of bulk density (1.40 gm cm-3), soil pH (5.8) and Soil EC (0.11) in surface soil were observed in the plot where N from FYM at 200 kg ha-1 was applied in combination with recommended fertilizer, 400 kg N ha-1 from FYM and 400 kg N ha 1 from VC respectively, the value of B.D. and soil pH increased whereas that of EC decreased with the soil depth. However crop yield was significantly higher in treatments where RF along with FYM was used than organically treated  plots. Thus best  alternative for  sustaining  the  soil  fertility  without  compromising  the productivity  is  to use  inorganic  fertilizers  along with the organic manures

Reclaimed brick masonry waste recycling in macro–micro amelioration of cemented clayey soil: an eco-friendly construction waste solution

Reclaimed brick masonry makes up a noteworthy portion of construction and demolition waste (CDW), totaling approximately 31%, even exceeding concrete waste. This study proposes using reclaimed brick masonry to enhance the micro- and macro-properties of clayey soil. Extensive laboratory testing was conducted to evaluate the performance of reclaimed brick powder (BP) along with 5% cement content. The cement was used to generate chemical bonds with BP and soil grains. Micro-testing like XRF, XRD, EDAX, and SEM analyses confirmed the formation of CSH and CAH compounds which strengthened soil structure and enhanced its brittleness. However, after 10% BP, the addition of coarser grains converted the soil structure from dense to porous. Macro-properties assessment confirmed that 10% BP with 5% cement content is an optimum combination for selected soil. The addition of BP reduces the required amount of cement for soil stabilization, making it an eco-friendlier solution. The addition of the optimum combination decreased the wL, IP, FSI, wopt, and Cc and increased the γdmax, qu, CBR value, and σy significantly. It is also confirmed by the specimen’s failure morphology analysis that BP with cement in clayey soil curtailed cement generated brittleness and enhanced ductility