Archives-  

The energy use and influences of energy inputs on output levels in corn grain production were investigated. For this purpose, the data on 100 corn grain production farms in the Khozestan province, Iran, were collected and analyzed. The output level was specified as a function inputs and output, and ordinary least squares were employed to estimate equation parameters. The results indicated that total energy input for corn grain production was about 392323 MJha–1; Chemical fertilizers (with 44 %) and electricity (with 27 %) were amongst the highest energy inputs for corn grain production. The energy ratio, energy productivity, specific energy and net energy were 2.6, 0.18 kgMJ–1, 5.66 MJkg–1 and 59248.58 MJha–1 respectively. The regression results indicated that the contribution of energy inputs on crop yield was significant. Sensitivity analysis indicates that the major MPP was drawn for seed and chemical fertilizers energy. Economic analysis indicated that the total cost of production for one hectare of corn grain production was around 1955 $. Accordingly, the benefit–cost ratio was 1.75. The total amounts of CO2 for corn grain production was calculated as 1.54 tonha-1, which indicated the high CO2 output in this cultivation. The use of diesel fuel and chemical fertilizer is in excess for corn grain production, causing an environmental risk problem in the region. The high rate of non-renewable energy utilization in this region can be controlled by using farmyard and green manure instead of chemical fertilizers.

An engaged employee is considered as a panacea for most of the organizational problems. This article focuses on the critical aspects of need for the engaged employee, how an organization can redesign its employee engagement drivers, with the use of different models available in literature. It reviews the traditional method, current studies and research performed on the employee engagement and views that human resource leaders needs to adopt the innovative way and real transformation that happens in corporate world to retain and engage employees to remain competitive in today’s global marketplace.

The present study evaluated the properties of polymeric blend films obtained from chitin and bentonite by the casting/solvent evaporation method. Polymer blend films of chitin and bentonite were prepared from homogeneous solutions in trichloroacetic acid at various proportions of chitin and bentonite. The cross linking agent like formaldehyde were incorporated into the polymer blends to improve the properties such as mechanical strength, tensile strength, surface hardness, stiffness, resistance to temperature and solvent attack. The structure and physical properties of the blend films were analyzed by Fourier transform spectroscopy (FTIR), thermo gravimetric analysis (TGA), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and wide angle XRD analysis. FTIR analyses confirmed that interactions were present between the hydroxyl groups of bentonite and amide group of chitin (lone pair of electrons available on nitrogen atom) in the blend films. Thermo gravimetric analyses showed that in the blend films, the thermal stability increased with increasing bentonite content. The differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) studies revealed an endothermic peak corresponding to water evaporation around 100?C in the films and an exothermal peak corresponding to the decomposition in the chitin side chain and blend films. The chitin-bentonite blend films exhibited a higher thermal stability in the presence of cross linking agents (formaldehyde) was found out.

The depth resolution function (DRF) of Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry (SIMS) analysis has been measured by analyzing delta layers of boron in silicon in different experimental condition using Cameca Ims-6f apparatus. This function has been fitted with an analytical expression initially proposed by Dowsett et al. This is described by three parameters: the rising exponential decay, the standard deviation and the decreasing exponential decay. Physical phenomena related to these fitting parameters are well detailed, in particular, falling exponential decay characterizes the residual mixing effect. The latter is considered the main mechanism responsible for the degradation of the depth resolution in the range of the primary ions energy used in this work. It is shown that when the experimental conditions change, the parameters that govern the analytical expression vary in a satisfactory way. Our depth resolutions are compared with those of the literature. It is shown that our results are in good agreement with those of other authors.

Machining is the most important of the manufacturing processes which involves the process of removing material from a workpiece in the form of chips. Machining is necessary where tight tolerances on dimensions and finishes are required. Being such an important process in manufacturing industry, a machining process is considered for investigation in the present work. This paper presents the experimental investigations on the effects of cutting variables like Spindle speed, Feed and Depth of cut on the Material removal rate and tool wear. The experiments were conducted on AISI SI steel grade on a CNC turning machine using ceramic insert. The experiments were conducted as per the design of experiments. Initial trial experiments were conducted to fix the ranges for the control parameters. After conducting the experiments the MRR and Tool wear were measured and recorded. The effects were studied after plotting the graphs between the Input process parameters versus the responses using Design expert software. The results obtained in this study can by further used for optimizing the process parameters there by the optimized results help the operator to enhance the quality as well as machining rate

In connection with conversion of Ghana Research Reactor-1 (GHARR-1) from the use of Highly Enriched Uranium (HEU) fuel to the use of Low Enriched Uranium (LEU) fuel with power upgrading which started in 2006, it is imperative to know how the spent fuel is stored. After the conversion process, the current HEU core will need a Spent Nuclear Fuel (SNF) storage cask to store the HEU fuel. Studies into suitable spent fuel storage cask are ongoing to help solve this challenge. The photon source densities of fission products, actinides and activation products relevant for assessing radiological consequence as well as designing and fabricating Spent Nuclear Fuel storage cask for GHARR-1 using local shielding material has been estimated for its 90.2% HEU fuel. Results showed that the bounding radiological dose due to hypothetical accidents can be evaluated at the end of irradiation (at discharge). Results have also proven key to the selection of shielding materials for the SNF cask.

This paper reviews the newly developed statistical analysis technique: classification and regression trees (CART), which is one of the most frequently used methods for complex and multi dimensional data sets. CART is a non parametric approach and can easily be used. A most popular and commonly used Gini index method for node impurity in classification trees and the concept of standard error for the measurement of accuracy in regression trees has been discussed. Important features and uses of CART in different fields especially in medical research have also been discussed with examples.

The aim of this study is to identify the impediments of developing medical tourism in Iran and categorize and prioritize them. Therefore, we interview 30 managers and key players in the industry of medical tourism which were in hospitals or medical tourism agencies. After extracting the important involved factors from our interviews, we design our questionnaire which was consist of 36 questions and distributed to 284 people in our sample. For analyzing data, Friedman test and t test were performed which use of SPSS 18 software. The results showed us the priority of the identified impediments is: factor conditions, strategy and structure, supporting industries and demand condition. According to our results we can say that government as a supporter in this industry can have crucial rule for setting rules and preparing safe and stable environment.

The rationale of the present research is to understand how and to what extent a particular leadership style can affect the climate of the organization. And further to find out the most popular form of leadership on the basis of data collected from both public and private sectors respectively. The real leadership is measured by its impact on others and in creating organizational climate which focuses on employee wellbeing. The questionnaire was conducted on 105senior personnel in education sector to determine their leadership style and further to study the effectiveness of each style on the climate of the organization. Results: There is a difference in leadership styles of different educational institutes and in turn their impact on climate of the institute. The leadership styles prominently emerging are participative and catalytic. Implication: Success of the organization depends on its leader. Participative leaders are those who involve other people in the process, including their subordinates, peers, superiors and other stakeholders. The Catalyst Leaders are visionary, they have facilitative, innovative, inspiring vision and empower people to transform the vision into reality. The paper reports that the different leadership styles create different type of climate which is responsible for the over all wellbeing of the employees and the institute. In today’s world successful leaders are those who provide opportunity and training to everyone to develop to the next level.

The aim of this study is to know if relaxation has immediate effect on hemodynamic parameters and pulmonary functions in normal healthy individuals. 34 of 40 participants were selected after screening. These participants were divided in two groups, group A: music therapy, group B: Jacobson’s progressive muscle relaxation. After an interval of 5 days, the participants were given the other intervention respectively. The participant’s hemodynamic parameters and pulmonary functions were noted immediately before and after the session. The study was conducted in the department of Cardio respiratory physiotherapy, College of Physiotherapy, PIMS, Loni. India. 34 of 40 normal healthy participants entered the study and 30 completed it. Relaxation was given by two techniques, music therapy in which the participant was made to listen to Indian classical instrumental music for 20 minutes. Another technique used was Jacobson’s progressive muscle relaxation for 20 minutes. Outcome measures were noted pre and post session. The primary outcome measures were hemodynamic parameters and pulmonary function. The secondary outcome measure was to find participant’s preference of relaxation technique based on their experience. The hemodynamic parameters improved considerably after music therapy but the pulmonary functions improved better with Jacobson’s progressive muscle relaxation. The participants rated music therapy more preferable than Jacobson’s progressive muscle relaxation. Relaxation has immediate effect on hemodynamic parameters and pulmonary functions. Relaxation particularly music therapy (Classical Indian instrumental music) can be made a routine activity in normal healthy individuals.