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Purpose: As the Covid-19 pandemic has necessitated increased remote working, organizations need to use support mechanisms to facilitate new ways of working. The purpose of this paper is to examine how the organizational support mechanisms impact employee work-related attitudes in the context of remote working. As people are anxious about both lives and livelihood during this crisis, the paper also aims to analyze how anxiety impacts the relationship of employee engagement with job satisfaction and organizational commitment. Methodology: For this purpose, responses were collected between March 25 and April 30, 2020 from a heterogeneous sample of employees (N=181) working remotely during the pandemic. Employees’ perspectives on work-related attitudes and organizational support mechanisms throughout lockdown in India were captured. Structural Equation Modeling was used to analyze the data. Findings: This study reported findings in two areas: how organizational support mechanisms (effective structure, supportive leadership, caring culture and technology) impact employees’ work-related attitudes in the context of remote working during the pandemic; and how anxiety due to the crisis impacts the relationship of employee engagement with job satisfaction and organizational commitment. Practical Implications: An immediate managerial implication of the findings suggest that it is not just technological infrastructure that facilitates remote working during a pandemic like Covid-19 but other organizational support mechanisms also have a significant impact on employee engagement. Also, there is a need for managers to create a caring, supportive, and open culture to reduce employee anxiety Originality: The article makes two main contributions. First, this study suggests and tests a model for boosting employee engagement leading to job satisfaction and organizational commitment for remote working in times of a pandemic. Second, the study provides suggestions for managers to apply the theoretical model.

Research methodology This study adopted interview methods and field visits to collect the data. An audio recording was done for the whole interview and presented as facts in this case. Field visits were done to see the packs and understand the consumers and their purchase habits of pickles. Case overview/synopsis Pandian Pickles is a pickle manufacturer located in Madurai, Tamil Nadu, a state in the southern part of India. Mr Kandasamy, one of the partner of the Pandian pickle, had been thinking of ways to grow the business. Pandian Pickles dominated the low-price unit (LPU) market with a unique packing of pickles done in “arecanut” leaf. This added a unique flavour to their pickles. Mr Kandasamy envisioned to grow the business by introducing higher stock-keeping units in the form of jars and tap the middle class and the upper-middle-class segments in the market. In this category, there were much more prominent and branded players. Being a small regional player, Govindan wondered how Pandian Pickles would take these more prominent players in the industry head-on. Complexity academic level The case is ideally suited for discussing the concept of product line stretching, particularly in the product mix strategies of a small and medium enterprise (SME). The case can best fit into the courses such as Entrepreneurship Development, Product and Brand Management, Marketing Management for the Undergraduate levels and in the courses such as Strategic Marketing, Bottom of the Pyramid Markets and Strategies Management of SMEs in the postgraduate levels.

Increased competition in market leads to the interaction between marketing and production of a firm in segmented market. This paper considers the problem of finding an optimal promotion and production strategy, where the consumer demand rate depends on differentiated and mass promotion efforts. Differentiated promotions can reach each segment independently and mass promotion reaches it with a fixed segmentspectrum. Under reasonable conditions, two optimal control problems are formulated. The first one considers a single source inventory and multi-segmented demand problem. In the second, a multi-segmented inventory and demand problem is considered, where it is assumed that the firm chooses an inventory directed to each segment. The solution to both problems is obtained by using Pontryagin?s maximum principle. Numerical examples are provided to illustrate the applicability of proposed models. The discretized version of the problem is formulated and solved on some numeric data.

Due the increasing globalization of market and diverse consumer groups, market segmentation becomes an ever more important concept in current market scenario. After market segmentation, firms use the available promotional strategies to target market. In this paper, we present a model of determining the optimal dynamic promotional policies for a product in segmented market incorporating dynamic market size, where sales is assumed to be evolved through mass and differentiated promotion. Mass promotional effort is allowed in whole market with a fixed spectrum for each segment while differentiated promotion is targeted to each segment independently. The optimal promotional effort policy for each segment is obtained by applying maximum principle. Numerical illustrations are provided to show the effectiveness of the proposed method and solution procedure by discretizing the optimal control model. Furthermore, sensitivity analysis of the discount rate parameter is carried out and presented.

Recent advances in materials, mechanics and design have led to the development of ultrathin, lightweight electronic devices that can conformally interface with human skin. With few exceptions, these devices rely on electrical power to support sensing, wireless communication and signal conditioning. Unfortunately, most sources of such power consist of batteries constructed using hazardous materials, often with form factors that frustrate incorporation into skin-like, or epidermal, electronic devices. Here we report a biocompatible, sweat-activated battery technology that can be embedded within a soft, microfluidic platform. The battery can be used in a detachable electronic module that contains wireless communication and power management systems, and is capable of continuous on-skin recording of physiological signals. To illustrate the practical utility of our approach, we show using human trials that the sweat-activated batteries can operate hybrid microfluidic/microelectronic systems that simultaneously monitor heart rate, sweat chloride and sweat pH. Sweat-activated, biocompatible batteries can be used to power flexible on-skin electronic systems that monitor and wirelessly transmit physiological signals.

The current study extends the literature on psychological safety and team creativity by exploring the questions of whether, how and when psychological safety influences team creativity positively. Specifically, the current study proposes that psychological safety has a positive impact on team creativity and this impact is mediated by shared leadership. Furthermore, the study introduces team diversity as a potential moderator in the relationships between psychological safety and team creativity through shared leadership. It is found that the direct effect of psychological safety on team creativity is more positive when team members perceive high diversity. Using a sample of 135 members working in teams in R&D departments in the electronics industry, the hypotheses were largely supported. Theoretical contributions, practical implications and future research directions are discussed.

The emergence of solar cells on flexible and bendable substrates has made the printing process a ubiquitous tool for the fabrication of these devices. The various printing techniques available now such as inkjet, screen and flexography offer cost- effectiveness, user-friendliness and suitability for mass production. While downscaling the fill factor and efficiency of organic solar cells. A multilayered structure, the combination of different printing techniques avails the variety of thickness and resolution required for each layer in the production of an organic solar cell. In this review article, we discuss the suitability of the inkjet and screen printing processes to produce organic solar cells. We also discuss various challenges involved in the fabrication of organic solar cells using these two techniques and the possible solutions for the same. We also provide an analogy that both processes share. Further, we consider future possibilities of combining these printing technologies to produce organic solar cells to improve device performance.

Temperature is considered a crucial physical parameter for several applications ranging from our day to day life to industrial applications. Studies have been reported to monitor the temperature by using various methods. Here, the present study demonstrates the fabrication of a simple and inexpensive temperature sensor based on the phenomenon of thermochromism, that is, the temperature can be monitored by the visual change in the sensor's color without using any additional circuitry. The mechanism of color change is associated with the difference in the coordination number of the complex compound due to the loss of crystal water in the organic–inorganic composite system. The screen printing process has been used to fabricate thin films of varying compositions in order to optimize the thermochromism in the temperature range of interest. Moreover, the reversibility of the color with a decrease in temperature allows the reusability and longevity of the sensor thus developed.

We examine the question whether a simple method of printing, the screen printing, can be adapted to print thin layers that grow and acquire the third dimension. Therefore, we report the formulation of a distinctive living microbes based ink suitable for screen printing process. Saccharomyces Cerevisae also known as “Baker’s yeast” is used for the preparation of microbial ink and screen printability has been systematically developed by extensive rheological measurements. For this, the addition of 10%, 20% and 40% w/w triton X-100 surfactant in microbial ink is evaluated in four types of strokes (slumping, flood, mesh and squeegee) associated with screen printing and is further linked with dynamic moduli of the inks. The microbial ink with 20% w/w surfactant shows an optimized rheological properties desired for screen printing process. In order to demonstrate the applicability of the formulated ink, it has been used for screen printing braille text patterns on a normal office paper. The tactile patterns thus obtained (after growth of microbes as well as post processing treatment) are further examined for their structural retention by load bearing characterization. Another impact of this work is that it potentially enables inexpensive braille printing on common office paper, which otherwise is carried out on an expensive specialized paper.

Subject area This case helps students to analyze non-financial and financial aspects of a company and observe quantitative and qualitative aspects of decisions and decide whether to invest or not and give suggestions to sell, buy or hold stocks. The case is expected to help the students understand and analyze the following points: the overall performance of the company and industry, how fundamental and technical analysis is applied to reach investment decisions, the areas where Jet Airways occupies the top position compared to peer group (competitor analysis), the company’s financial position and valuation with the help of tools and techniques and suggestions and observations to shareholders whether to buy/sell or hold shares. Study level/applicability This case can be used for MBA (Finance) students on equity research and valuation. Students are introduced to the fundamental procedures of equity research and analysis – evaluating sector desirability, financial modeling, equity valuation methods. To enhance research skills, students are required to acquire basic knowledge on macro and micro economic indicators. This case helps students to analyze non financial and financial aspects of a company and observe quantitative and qualitative aspects of decisions and decide whether to invest or not and give suggestions to sell, buy or hold stocks. Case overview Mr Rahul, a consultant in Karvey brokerage house was about to leave the office on the evening of March 24, 2015 when the phone rang. It was Mr Srirag, one of his clients and close friends who was passionate about investing in shares. Mr Rahul with his two decades of experience in monitoring and advising various investment plans has been continuously advising Srirag on different investments in shares. Srirag said “Rahul! You know that I bought many shares in Jet Airways. While studying the annual reports of Jet Airways 2014-2015 about its business profits and losses, I came across a January to March, 2013 business quarter analysis report that wrote about Jet Airways facing a net loss of 4.95 billion rupees due to over debt burden and interest costs. It also stated that the company sold a 24 per cent stake in 2013 to Etihad for 332$ million which is an Abu Dhabi based airline. The news said that the deal would help the company overcome financial challenges, raise cash, cut costs and gain access to the global flight network. I am worried about whether this deal would allow the company to continue its operations from India or not. I am also concerned about the downfall of Kingfisher, a major setback in the aviation industry in India that owes 8,000 crores to its employees, banks, airports, oil companies. I am worried that either my investment in Jet Airways might bring huge losses or the partnership with Etihad airways would result in the reduction of costs and due to joint sales efforts, sharing resources and network integration thereby leading to a valuable share price. Since your guidance has helped in many issues, I would like to know the present condition and future prospectus prevailing in Jet Airways”. With a lot of ambiguity in his mind, he asked Rahul to recommend if he should hold or sell the shares in Jet Airways. Expected learning outcomes The case is expected to help the students understand and analyze the following points: the overall performance of the company and industry, how fundamental and technical analysis is applied to reach investment decisions, the areas where Jet Airways occupies the top position compared to peer group (Competitor analysis), the company’s financial position and valuation with the help of tools and techniques and suggestions and observations to shareholders on whether to buy/sell or hold shares. Supplementary materials The link to the following videos to be sent to participants in advance to help them prepare for the class. www.youtube.com/watch?v=_3XJXTmILyk, Equity Research Presentation: Coca-Cola, www.youtube.com/watch?v=n5pEK_2uItg Write Equity Research Report, format, process, www.youtube.com/watch?v=mMLJccgiSTk Equity Valuation and Analysis-Part I. Subject code CSS 1: Accounting and Finance.

Advanced technologies for controlled delivery of light to targeted locations in biological tissues are essential to neuroscience research that applies optogenetics in animal models. Fully implantable, miniaturized devices with wireless control and power-harvesting strategies offer an appealing set of attributes in this context, particularly for studies that are incompatible with conventional fiber-optic approaches or battery-powered head stages. Limited programmable control and narrow options in illumination profiles constrain the use of existing devices. The results reported here overcome these drawbacks via two platforms, both with real-time user programmability over multiple independent light sources, in head-mounted and back-mounted designs. Engineering studies of the optoelectronic and thermal properties of these systems define their capabilities and key design considerations. Neuroscience applications demonstrate that induction of interbrain neuronal synchrony in the medial prefrontal cortex shapes social interaction within groups of mice, highlighting the power of real-time subject-specific programmability of the wireless optogenetic platforms introduced here. The authors introduce advanced technology for controlled wireless light delivery in optogenetics applications with real-time user programming capacity. The utility of the platform is highlighted by induction of neural synchrony to modify social behavior in mice.

Skin-mounted soft electronics that incorporate high-bandwidth triaxial accelerometers can capture broad classes of physiologically relevant information, including mechano-acoustic signatures of underlying body processes (such as those measured by a stethoscope) and precision kinematics of core-body motions. Here, we describe a wireless device designed to be conformally placed on the suprasternal notch for the continuous measurement of mechano-acoustic signals, from subtle vibrations of the skin at accelerations of around 10−3 m s−2 to large motions of the entire body at about 10 m s−2, and at frequencies up to around 800 Hz. Because the measurements are a complex superposition of signals that arise from locomotion, body orientation, swallowing, respiration, cardiac activity, vocal-fold vibrations and other sources, we exploited frequency-domain analysis and machine learning to obtain—from human subjects during natural daily activities and exercise—real-time recordings of heart rate, respiration rate, energy intensity and other essential vital signs, as well as talking time and cadence, swallow counts and patterns, and other unconventional biomarkers. We also used the device in sleep laboratories and validated the measurements using polysomnography. A wireless device designed to be conformally placed on the suprasternal notch can continuously provide real-time information of essential vital signs as well as talking time, swallow counts and sleep patterns.

We have demonstrated a novel method to fabricate microlenses for organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs) using templates of patterned microbes. Saccharomyces cerevisiae (Baker’s yeast), generally used in a microbiology laboratory, is allowed or restricted to grow in selected areas on a polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) membrane, which acts as a substrate. The process comprises of two autonomous approaches, namely, microbial and antimicrobial approaches, which employ inkjet printing for dispensing a suitable ink. The ink is a culture of microbes in the case of microbial approach and an antimicrobial agent in the antimicrobial approach. Once a three dimensional pattern evolves as a consequence of microbial growth, the substrate serves as a template for casting polydimethyl siloxane (PDMS) microlenses. Among the two approaches, antimicrobial approach presents a pattern with low packing density of microlenses. But, microbial approach results into a densely packed array of microlenses with a significant randomness in the distribution of their diameter and height, as required for efficient light out-coupling. The microlenses obtained from both the approaches are attached to the air side of the glass in all three red, green and blue OLEDs. The luminance was measured with and without these microlenses. A maximum enhancement of 1.24X was attained.

We describe in detail a process for generating three-dimensional patterns of microbes on an optimum substrate in such a way that the patterns are amenable for engineering applications. Further, we demonstrate approaches that make it possible to use the three-dimensional microbial patterns for applications outside the realm of the life sciences. Specifically, the microbes are normally grown on a gel media. In order to separate the grown patterns from the gel, we have introduced a permeable membrane. These membranes provide support for the growth of microbial colonies and allow them to be used in other applications. Among the membranes, a polyvinylidene fluoride membrane could be made suitable after its surface treatment to promote microbe adherence. We demonstrate two approaches for generating the required patterns. In both cases, a two dimensional pattern of an ink is dispensed on the membrane kept on the media. The subsequent growth of microbes is used to acquire the three dimensional pattern. The two proposed approaches are a microbial approach and an antimicrobial approach. In the former, baker's yeast, which was found to be the most suitable among the microbes tested, is dispensed in an ink form on selected locations on a PVDF membrane. The same pattern evolves upon growth. In the antimicrobial approach, the PVDF membrane is fully coated with yeast ink and iso-amyl alcohol as growth inhibitor is dispensed in a pattern. After growth of the yeast, the pattern evolved is the negative of the dispensed pattern. The fabricated patterns are proposed to be used in applications such as stamps for printing micro-electronics, microlenses, microfluidics and for direct use in braille printing. A polydimethyl siloxane stamp fabricated using a grown yeast pattern for micro-contact printing is also demonstrated.

Detecting skew angle in a document image has been an area of research interest for a long time. This paper presents an experimental analysis of various existing skew detection techniques involving methods such as Radon transform, Hough transform, Principal Component Analysis (PCA), PCA with Wavelet transform and Moments with Wavelet transform. Detailed analysis of existing skew detection method against the parameters time complexity, space complexity, robustness, accuracy, flexibility, etc. has been carried out for seven different categories of digital documents. The categories of these documents spans from those containing handwritten text in different languages, to the ones with both text and pictures. Radon transform is observed to be the fastest method when the image size is small and works with virtually all types of documents. It is an accurate method as well as works faster, even with the document containing pictures. PCA method is also faster than Hough transform for machine printed documents but used less for real time skew distortion due to its limitations. If the document image size is large, then Moments with Wavelet transform has better time complexity than other methods, but do not work well with documents containing images. Hough transform is the most accurate method, though it is computationally expensive.

In this paper, a new fast frequency domain method based on Discrete Wavelet Transform and Fast Fourier Transform has been implemented for the determination of the skew angle in a document image. Firstly, image size reduction is done by using two-dimensional Discrete Wavelet Transform and then skew angle is computed using Fast Fourier Transform. Skew angle error is almost negligible. The proposed method is experimented using a large number of documents having skew between -90° and +90° and results are compared with Moments with Discrete Wavelet Transform method and other commonly used existing methods. It has been determined that this method works more efficiently than the existing methods. Also, it works with typed, picture documents having different fonts and resolutions. It overcomes the drawback of the recently proposed method of Moments with Discrete Wavelet Transform that does not work with picture documents.

Inspired by the wound healing property of certain trees, we report a novel microbes based additive process for producing three dimensional patterns, which has a potential of engineering applications in a variety of fields. Imposing a two dimensional pattern of microbes on a gel media and allowing them to grow in the third dimension is known from its use in biological studies. Instead, we have introduced an intermediate porous substrate between the gel media and the microbial growth, which enables three dimensional patterns in specific forms that can be lifted off and used in engineering applications. In order to demonstrate the applicability of this idea in a diverse set of areas, two applications are selected. In one, using this method of microbial growth, we have fabricated microlenses for enhanced light extraction in organic light emitting diodes, where densely packed microlenses of the diameters of hundreds of microns lead to luminance increase by a factor of 1.24X. In another entirely different type of application, braille text patterns are prepared on a normal office paper where the grown microbial colonies serve as braille tactile dots. Braille dot patterns thus prepared meet the standard specifications (size and spacing) for braille books.

Multiferroic solid solutions of (Pb0.8Sm0.2)(Ti0.8Fe0.2)O3 are synthesized by conventional solid-state reaction. Microstructure property relationship has been studied and it is shown that the multiferroic properties in the sample are dependent on sintering temperature. The sample sintered at 1200 °C exhibits optimal properties and shows enhanced magnetoelectric coupling at room temperature. For the sample sintered at 1200 °C, large remnant polarization (Pr∼20 μC/cm2) and positive remnant magnetization (Mr∼0.021 emu/g) were observed at room temperature.