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1 – 10 of over 2000A. Subramanian, P. Rajendran, N. Natesan, K. Balakrishnan and T. Vasudevan
Atmospheric corrosion of mild steel, copper and zinc was studied in SO2 environment under dynamic flow conditions by weight loss measurements, and their corrosion prevention by…
Abstract
Atmospheric corrosion of mild steel, copper and zinc was studied in SO2 environment under dynamic flow conditions by weight loss measurements, and their corrosion prevention by the use of volatile corrosion inhibitors such as cyclohexylamine (CHA) and dicyclohexylamine (DCHA) is discussed. These studies assume importance as SO2 is one of the dominant pollutants in the atmosphere and more so in industrial belts affecting the stability of metal articles to a greater extent.
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Leila Afshari, Aamir Hayat, K.K. Ramachandran, Timothy Bartram and Bamini K.P.D. Balakrishnan
The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of accelerated job demands on employee outcomes during the COVID-19 crisis. An integrated model was developed to explore…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of accelerated job demands on employee outcomes during the COVID-19 crisis. An integrated model was developed to explore the relationships between different types of job demands (learning, decision-making, work intensification), employee turnover intention (TI) and burnout (BU).
Design/methodology/approach
Data were obtained from professionals whose work conditions were impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic crisis. An online survey was distributed anonymously. A total of 566 questionnaires were included in the analysis. Structural equation modeling was employed to analyze the data.
Findings
The findings revealed that employees' perception of job demands impacts the significance and direction of the relationships between different forms of job demands and employee outcomes. Furthermore, the findings confirm that mediating role of perceived organizational support alleviates the adverse effects of job demands on employee outcomes. Finally, the present study supported the moderation effect of positive affectivity between work intensification and employee BU.
Practical implications
This study provides employers with insights about supporting employees to cope with increased job demands in conditions where rapid changes are inevitable.
Originality/value
The unique context of research (COVID-19) enabled this study to account for the acceleration of job demands that employees experience in rapidly changing situations. This study employed an instrument that allowed for the assessment of acceleration in job demands. Furthermore, the granular approach of the measurement model extended the perspectives of job demands and work intensification.
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K. Ramesh, B. Vengadaesvaran, S.R. Rau, T.S. Ramesh and A.K. Arof
Corrosion is an important problem to be taken care in terms of economic and ecological aspects. The aim of this paper is to identify the methods of protection and selection of…
Abstract
Purpose
Corrosion is an important problem to be taken care in terms of economic and ecological aspects. The aim of this paper is to identify the methods of protection and selection of materials for corrosion protection.
Design/methodology/approach
A novel attempt has been made to formulate a hybrid composite paint system using silicone (S2) and polyester (P3) resins. These resins have been blended in different weight ratios to develop binder for protection coatings. Cross‐hatch test, impact resistance test, thermal characterization, impedance measurement and potential‐time measurement were conducted on binder coated steel panels. Heat resistance test was carried out using ASTM D2485 standards.
Findings
The results showed that physical and mechanical properties of the coatings have been improved by the addition of silicone into the polyester matrix. The binder system developed using 50 wt per cent polyester and 50 wt per cent silicone showed good physical, mechanical properties and high thermal resistance. The maximum coating resistance of the coatings after 30 days exposure was found to be 9.7×106 Ω and the coating can withstand high temperature up to 473 K.
Research limitations/implications
The development of different types of coatings will be useful to achieve higher protection performance. The combinations of different resins and pigments have to be analysed and selected suitable compositions.
Practical implications
The objective of this study is to develop coating system with different resins to achieve better performance and reduce the cost of paint materials. It may be useful for the industries to move forward with new formulation using multicomponent coating materials. A critical combination of the above resins offers better protection for steel structures from high temperature corrosive environments.
Originality/value
The formulation of coating material using two different resins and a single curing agent is a novel approach in this research. This type of research will open new ideas of formulating different coatings using various types of resins. In high temperature corrosion environment, the coatings which is commonly used is silicone based and the price of the raw material is very high therefore to reduce the cost of the raw material, the silicone resin is being blended in different ratios with organic resin to obtain an optimum ratio which can be applied to overcome high temperature corrosion on steel panels.
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Ing Grace Phang, Bamini K.P.D. Balakrishnan and Hiram Ting
The COVID-19 pandemic took the world by surprise in early 2020. The preventive measures imposed by many countries limited human movement, causing uncertainty and disrupting…
Abstract
Purpose
The COVID-19 pandemic took the world by surprise in early 2020. The preventive measures imposed by many countries limited human movement, causing uncertainty and disrupting consumption patterns and consumer decision-making. This study aims to explore consumers’ panic buying (PB) and compulsive buying (CB) as outcomes of the intolerance of uncertainty (IU). The moderating role of sustainable consumption behaviours (SCBs) (e.g. quality of life [QOL], concern for future generation and concern for environmental well-being) were also tested to raise awareness of responsible and mindful consumption amongst the society and business stakeholders.
Design/methodology/approach
To empirically examine the grocery shopping behaviours of Malaysian consumers during COVID-19, a total of 286 valid grocery consumer survey responses based on a purposive sampling were collected and analysed during the movement control order period between March and July 2020.
Findings
The findings confirmed the statistically significant impact of IU on both PB and CB and the impact of PB on CB behaviour. Amongst the three SCBs tested, only QOL significantly moderated the relationship between the IU and PB.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to construct a framework of consumers’ PB and CB during the pandemic, building upon the stimulus-organism-response model and the concepts of IU and SCB. This study further serves as the pioneering study on the moderating role of SCB in consumer behaviour research in the pandemic context, whereby consumers’ QOL significantly moderates the relationship between their IU and PB. This study has also drawn specific implications for grocery retailers and government agencies for retail and policy planning to promote positive social transformation in consumer buying behaviours during a pandemic or crisis.
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Jennifer L. Kent and Melanie Crane
Transport shapes the health of urban populations. It can support healthy behaviours such as participation in regular physical activity and access to community connection…
Abstract
Transport shapes the health of urban populations. It can support healthy behaviours such as participation in regular physical activity and access to community connection. Transport systems can also have major negative impacts on health. For example, through air pollution from fossil fuel-based modes of travel, the risk of injury and death from transport related collisions, and in the way sedentary modes of travelling can contribute to less physically active lifestyles.
This chapter considers the long-term impact of the pandemic on a series of well-researched transport-related health outcomes. It first describes the established connections between transport and health. It then considers the future implications of three potential pandemic-induced shifts: the increased uptake of working from home (WFH); decreased usage of public transport and increased interest in walking and cycling in the local neighbourhood. The impacts of these shifts on the transport-health nexus are then discussed, revealing both positive and negative outcomes. The authors conclude by providing policy recommendations to mitigate possible negative outcomes and strengthen the positive consequences into the future.
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Rabinarayan Patnaik and Sukanta Kumar Baral
Banking sector is an important subset of any economy and plays a very crucial and significant part in its growth and development. The expansion and credibility of banking sector…
Abstract
Banking sector is an important subset of any economy and plays a very crucial and significant part in its growth and development. The expansion and credibility of banking sector is attributed to the fact that it caters to the financial needs and accordingly provides customised solutions for the people at large. The new millennium has witnessed metamorphosis in the banking sector. The pace and trend of transformation is all set to accelerate in the coming decade. The process of Liberalisation, Privatisation and Globalisation Model (LPG Model) banking practices which being unleashed a few decades back will reach to greater heights as we step into the next decade. The innovative technology has brought about a paradigm shift in all aspects of banking like routine operations, transactions, products and processes, delivery of services in terms of various e-channels, credit administration and credit management, audit and compliance and Fin-Techs partnership. Digital transformations in the banking sector have received much needed thrust because of ‘The Digital India Moment’. The current study attempts to highlight the role of technology in banking and how technology-led innovations and initiatives will determine the business of banking as a whole. The significance of these technology-driven innovations and transformations is that they put both banker and customer in a win-win situation as drawn from existing literature related to financial institutions. The focus is on investigating the digital innovations adopted by the different banks both public and private to understand the economic structural changes resulted out of it.
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During a press conference at the Imperial Hotel in Delhi on 13 March 2001, the Internet news site, Tehelka.com, showed secret video footage of senior politicians, bureaucrats, and…
Abstract
During a press conference at the Imperial Hotel in Delhi on 13 March 2001, the Internet news site, Tehelka.com, showed secret video footage of senior politicians, bureaucrats, and army officers accepting money in a fake defense deal. Two journalists from Tehelka, Anirudha Bahal and Mathew Samuel, posed as arms dealers from a fictitious arms company called West End International to sell nonexistent handheld thermal cameras to senior officials of the Ministry of Defense (MOD) in India. Bahal and Samuel paid bribes to politicians, civil servants, and army officers to procure government contracts. The journalists used three hidden cameras to videotape the corrupt politicians and officials accepting the bribes, with the most dramatic video clip showing the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President, Bangaru Laxman, accepting a wad of currency notes from them. Laxman later claimed that he was not guilty of wrongdoing for accepting Rs. 100,000 (US$2,170) as a donation for the BJP. Describing the episode as “concocted,” he added that he had given the donation to the BJP's treasurer (BBC News, 2001a).
Susan Albers Mohrman, Abraham B. (Rami) Shani and Arienne McCracken
Purpose – This chapter frames the topic of organizing for sustainable health care in terms of the environmental trends that have rendered current health care approaches…
Abstract
Purpose – This chapter frames the topic of organizing for sustainable health care in terms of the environmental trends that have rendered current health care approaches unsustainable, the embeddedness of health care in society's triple bottom line, and the need to build adaptive capability within the complex health care ecosystem.
Design/methodology/approach – We synthesize documented trends and empirical findings regarding the viability of current approaches to health care, and provide a theoretically framed treatment of the adaptation process in the complex health care system that can lead to the emergence of sustainable approaches.
Findings – There is a misfit between current approaches to delivering health care and the requirements and trends in contemporary society. Fundamental transformation is required that entails a broadening of purpose, a future orientation, and a rethinking of how health care adds value and how it is embedded in society.
Originality/value – By reconceptualizing health care reform as intricately related to societal sustainability and the triple bottom line, we open the possibility of transcending a narrow focus on reengineering to create more efficient organizations and work processes that consume fewer resources and deliver greater value. We invite health care practitioners and scholars to rethink all the connections in the health care ecosystem, and the need to build in self-organizing capabilities and adaptive capacity. The cases in this book provide knowledge from systems engaged in fundamental transformation, analyzed through the lenses of theoretical frameworks that help us better understand essential dynamics involved in creating sustainable health care systems.
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Abdesselem Beghriche and Azeddine Bilami
Security is one of the major challenges in the design and implementation of protocols for mobile ad hoc networks (MANETs). In such systems, the cooperation between nodes is one of…
Abstract
Purpose
Security is one of the major challenges in the design and implementation of protocols for mobile ad hoc networks (MANETs). In such systems, the cooperation between nodes is one of the important principles being followed in the current research works to formulate various security protocols. Many existing works assume that mobile nodes will follow prescribed protocols without deviation. However, this is not always the case, because these networks are subjected to a variety of malicious attacks. Since there are various models of attack, trust routing scheme can guarantee security and trust of the network. The purpose of this paper is to propose a novel trusted routing model for mitigating attacks in MANETs.
Design/methodology/approach
The proposed model incorporates the concept of trust into the MANETs and applies grey relational analysis theory combined with fuzzy sets to calculate a node’s trust level based on observations from neighbour nodes’ trust level, these trust levels are then used in the routing decision-making process.
Findings
In order to prove the applicability of the proposed solution, extensive experiments were conducted to evaluate the efficiency of the proposed model, aiming at improving the network interaction quality, malicious node mitigation and enhancements of the system’s security.
Originality/value
The proposed solution in this paper is a new approach combining the fundamental basics of fuzzy sets with the grey theory, where establishment of trust relationships among participating nodes is critical in order to enable collaborative optimisation of system metrics. Experimental results indicate that the proposed method is useful for reducing the effects of malicious nodes and for the enhancements of system’s security.
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R. Manickavasagam, K. Jeya Karthik, M. Paramasivam and S. Venkatakrishna Iyer
Poly(styrenesulphonic acid)‐doped polyaniline has been synthesised and the influence of this polymeric compound on the inhibition of corrosion of mild steel in 1M HCl has been…
Abstract
Poly(styrenesulphonic acid)‐doped polyaniline has been synthesised and the influence of this polymeric compound on the inhibition of corrosion of mild steel in 1M HCl has been investigated using weight loss measurements, galvanostatic polarisation studies, electropermeation studies and a.c. impedance measurements. The polymer acts predominantly as an anodic inhibitor. Hydrogen permeation studies and a.c. impedance measurements clearly indicate a very effective performance of the compound as a corrosion inhibitor. The adsorption of the compound on the mild steel surface obeys Temkin's adsorption isotherm.