Search

The pulp and paper industry is critical to global industrial and economic development. Recently, India's pulp and paper industries have been facing severe competitive challenges. The challenges have impaired the environmental performance and resulted in the closure of several operations. Assessment and prediction of the performance of the Indian pulp and paper industry using various parameters is a critical task for researchers. This study proposes a framework for performance assessment and prediction based on Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA), Artificial Neural Networks, and Deep Learning (DL) to assist industry administration and decision-making. We presented a case study based on eight industries to demonstrate the methodology's applicability. This study analyses and predicts industry performance based on sample data observations over 30 years. The result suggests the DEA-DL-based efficiency prediction has an overall MSE of 0.08 compared with the actual efficiency. Furthermore, the efficiency rankings are compared between the three techniques. The results suggest that the integrated DEA-DL method is primarily accurate in most scenarios with the actual values. The findings of this study provide a comprehensive analysis of environmental performance for policymakers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim and Objectives: Although inclusive education of children with intellectual disability is currently an accepted practice, it is often challenged by negative attitude of schoolteachers. We undertook two surveillance studies aimed at Study A - identifying knowledge and teachers' attitudes towards children with intellectual disability and practices of inclusive education in a semi-urban school of South India. Study B -Determining the effect of educational intervention towards attitudes on inclusive education. Method: Knowledge, Attitude and Practice surveillance questionnaires (KAP and ATPD) were given to ninety-six consenting schoolteachers in Study A and twenty schoolteachers in Study B and analyzed. Results: In Study A, the overall attitude mean indicated a favorable attitude towards the children with intellectual disability. The mean overall attitude score was 77.1 (SD: 9.58), with a normal distribution. Forty to fifty percent were aware of intellectual disability and attributed them to biological causes. Ninety-two percent agreed on the need for education and stepwise training for a child with an intellectual disability. In real-life practice, results of classroom management were inaccurate. In Study B, knowledge, attitudes and practices towards inclusive education improved with educational intervention with a positive change of 7.19% on the ATDP scale. Conclusion: These findings suggest a generally positive attitude towards intellectual disability and inclusive education. Comprehensive training programs improve knowledge and attitudes towards inclusive education.

Introduction: Conflict is an inevitable fact existing in any organization and it is understood as disagreement between two parties. Conflicts in simple terms may occur when severe issues arise and fury is invoked in the communication process. Conflict arises because of misunderstanding one's words or intentions. Objectives: To analyse and interpret the most preferred and rejected management styles to deal with the industrial conflict. - To explore different conflict management approaches in the study. - To study and analyse the conflict management styles adopted by the management in JK paper mills limited. Hypothesis: - The conflict variables are not varying over the classifications of the Demographic variables of the respondents. - The conflict variables are not varying over the classifications of the Employment variables of the respondents. Need: The production deficit and supply mismatch has made this industry import dependent for finished paper. The demand for paper in India is high and increasing. The supply shortfall for this industry is estimated at 20 million tonnes by 2021. The contribution of the paper industry to the GDP is high. Hence, the researcher felt the need to conduct a study on Conflict management approaches in paper industry with reference to JK Paper Limited, one of the prime organisations in the industry in Visakhapatnam. Methodology: Sample size is 544, Convenient sampling technique is employed for sample collection. To measure the conflict variables over designation, nature of work and classification of departments, ANOVA test is employed to measure its association among variables. Findings: The categorical variables are determinants of the situation in a manufacturing organisation and form a part of internal environment. Therefore, the study concludes the conflict variables determine the style of conflict management. Conclusion: The research study is confined to the employees of select JK Paper Mills Ltd only and it can be extended to other states or cities of India where paper mills industries are situated. It could be further extended to private and public sector paper mills industry of India identifying the conflict management styles adopted in these industries and the effectiveness of conflict management in these industries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we present a system for automatic evaluation of the quality of a question paper. Question paper plays a major role in educational assessment. The quality of a question paper is crucial to fulfilling the purpose of the assessment. In many education sectors, question papers are prepared manually. A prior analysis of a question paper might help in finding the errors in the question paper, and better achieving the goals of the assessment. In this experiment, we focus on higher education in the technical domain. First, we conducted a student survey to identify the key factors that affect the quality of a question paper. The top factors we identified are question relevance, question difficulty, and time requirement. We explored the strategies to handle these factors and implemented them. We employ various concepts and techniques for the implementation. The system finally assigns a numerical quality score against these factors. The system is evaluated using a set of question papers collected from various sources. The experimental results show that the proposed system is quite promising.

It is generally perceived that a substantial number of engineering faculty are still unaware of alternative educational methods, and many who are aware of them choose not to incorporate them into their approach to teaching. There are several likely reasons for this inertia, aside from the inevitable human resistance to change. The primary focus of imparting information is restricted to fulfilling the course requirements and, the upcoming term end examination. It is imperative to adopt a change from teaching to learning paradigm engaging the students in Higher Order Thinking Skills. Knowledge and technological advancements are changing the role of engineering and engineering faculty in the society. Engineering Education reforms need to focus on inductive teaching and stimulated learning. Students should be taught critical thinking skills and creative thinking skills to keep pace with the rapidly changing engineering profession. This paper reports the study done to test and explore the faculty awareness of Bloom's Taxonomy of Educational Objectives in the cognitive domain and Higher Order Thinking Skills (HOTS) and to evaluate question papers set by engineering faculty with respect to HOTS as proposed by Bloom's Taxonomy. Various active learning strategies to enhance critical thinking skills and creative thinking skills of the students are recommended for use by the faculty in their interactions with the students.

The Reserve Bank of India, not to be left behind, played its part in this transformational journey, by issuing regulations and recommendations on banking mechanization and computerization. Financial sector in general and banking industry in Particular is the largest spender and beneficiary from information technology. According to John Finnerty, "Financial Innovation involves the design, the development, and the implementation of innovative financial instruments and processes, and the formulation of creative solutions to problems in finance". The various innovations in banking and financial sector are ECS, RTGS, EFT. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Retracted articles by Indian scholars have received significant attention in recent times. However, no comprehensive study has been conducted to analyse the citations of retracted papers authored by Indian researchers. This study aimed to assess the citations to retracted works published between 2001 and 2020 pre‐ and post‐retraction. The study found that there was an increase in retractions over time, with empirical data suggesting that the number of retractions has increased significantly, from 72 papers between 2001 and 2010 to 365 papers between 2011 and 2020. Duplication (n = 128) and plagiarism (n = 119) were the primary reasons for retraction. Notably, 90% of the retracted articles continued to receive citations after retraction. Among the retracted papers, eight received more than 50 post‐retraction citations, 39 received 20 to 50 citations, 347 received one to 19 citations, and 43 were not cited at all post‐retraction. There was an overall 8% decrease in citations after retraction. Retractions were observed across journals of varying impact factor, with a higher number of retractions observed in journals with an impact factor of less than 5 (n = 286; 65%). Furthermore, smaller research teams of two to five authors accounted for 72% of the total retractions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Summative assessments play a major role in shaping the student's learning. There is little literature available on validity of summative assessment question papers in Forensic Medicine & Toxicology. This study analyses 30 question papers from 6 reputed universities for content validity. Methods: A retrospective cross-sectional record-based observational study was conducted where 30 university summative question papers in Forensic Medicine & Toxicology from 6 universities across India were evaluated for content validity. The learning domain assessed, the type of questions asked, and sampling of the content was compared and presented in the results. Results: From the results of the study, it was noted that 80% weightage was allotted to recall in most papers and only one paper tested for application. 70 to 80% of the marks were allotted to Forensic Pathology leading to disproportionate sampling. Core areas in Toxicology and Medical Jurisprudence were sparsely assessed. Conclusion: The content validity of the summative question papers in Forensic Medicine and Toxicology was unsatisfactory, emphasising the need for evaluation of the clarity and efficacy of the blueprints being used by the universities. Faculty training to motivate and influence a change in the mindset is necessary to bring about a course correction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Organ donation following circulatory determination of death (DCDD) has contributed significantly to the donor pool in several countries, without compromising the outcomes of transplantation or the number of donations following brain death (BD). In India, majority of deceased donations happen following BD. While existing legislation allows for DCDD, there have been only a few reports of kidney transplantation following DCDD from the country. This document, prepared by a multi-disciplinary group of experts, reviews the international best practices in DCDD and outlines the path for furthering the same in India. The ethical, medical, legal, economic, procedural, and logistic challenges unique to India for all types of DCDD based on the Modified Maastricht Criteria have been addressed. India follows an opt-in system for organ donation that does not allow much scope for uncontrolled DCDD categories I and II. The practice of withdrawal of life-sustaining treatment (WLST) in India is in its infancy. The process of WLST, laid down by the Supreme Court of India, is considered time-consuming, possible only in patients in a permanent vegetative state, and considered too cumbersome for day-to-day practice. In patients where continued medical care is determined to be futile following detailed and repeated assessment, the procedure for WLST, as laid down and published by Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy in conjunction with leading medical experts is described. In controlled DCDD (category-III), the decision for WLST is independent of and delinked from the subsequent possibility of organ donation. Once families are inclined toward organ donation, they are explained the procedure including the timing and location of WLST, consent for antemortem measures, no-touch period, and the possibility of stand down and return to the intensive care unit without donation. While donation following neurologic determination of death (DNDD) is being increasingly practiced in the country, there are instances where the cardiac arrest occurs during the process of declaration of BD, before organ retrieval has been done. Protocol for DCDD category-IV deals with such situations and is described in detail. In DCDD category V, organ donation may be possible following unsuccessful cardiopulmonary resuscitation of cardiac arrest in the intensive care. An outline of organ-specific requisites for kidney, liver, heart, and lung transplantation following DCDD and the use of techniques such as normothermic regional perfusion and ex vivo machine perfusion has been provided. With increasing experience, the outcomes of transplantation following DCDD are comparable to those following DBDD or living donor transplantation. Documents and checklists necessary for the successful execution of DCDD in India are described. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]