Employee Engagement in A Remote Working Scenario

Remote working is a concept in which the employees do not commute or travel to the Organizations place of work but allows the employees to work outside of the traditional office environment. Employee engagement can be viewed as an attitude of an employee/employee’s a to be productive, to excel and therefore be committed towards the organisation. Remote working applies to a variety of employees especially office or desk-based workers. This paper explores different facets of the remote worker’s persona and provides recommendations and practices to enhance employee engagement of the employees working remotely. Remote work culture is not a new concept, but due to the current Covid-19 Pandemic situation there seems to be a rapid shift of many employees to the remote working model essentially working away from the traditional office ecosystem. This paper examines two aspects of working remotely, a. In regular times b. during a crisis and in both these scenarios how to keep the remote workers engaged and motivated to ensure a minimum if not zero loss of Productivity.

Rationale for Defining Recognition of “Higher Animal Welfare” Farm Assurance Schemes in a Global Food System: The GAWA Alliance

Many schemes exist which provide assurance on farm animal welfare. However, different standards and protocols mean the level of welfare assured by schemes can be very diverse, potentially hindering food businesses operating globally from sourcing equivalent higher welfare products. This research investigated the rationale for establishing a recognised network of higher welfare schemes from which authentic higher welfare products can be purchased. Nine assurance schemes and seven food businesses were interviewed. Results confirmed the challenge food businesses face in international trade of products from animals reared to a definable welfare status, due to the lack of recognised equivalence of different assurance schemes. Results provided evidence for international interest in an alliance of higher welfare schemes to provide standardisation of higher welfare, as a solution to this challenge. As a result, a working model of such an alliance was refined and the alliance was launched as “Global Animal Welfare Assurance” (GAWA).

A forgotten past is the past that is yet to be

South Africa is one of the few countries in Africa that has a running oral history association. In some countries, especially in southern Africa, these oral history associations have arisen and then died a natural death. For example, Oral Traditions Association of Zimbabwe (OTAZI) did not last long. Therefore, it is a positive development for South Africa to have a functioning oral history association. The Oral History Association of South Africa (OHASA) is the brainchild of the government and is mainly funded by the government. It is involved in the coordination and documentation of stories that were silent during the apartheid era. Therefore, with this highly perceived task it is necessary to critically evaluate its successes and failures in meeting the objectives of the National Oral History Programme (NOHP). This paper, through document analysis and purposively selected interviews, critically evaluates the achievements and shortcomings of the OHASA from its inception to present with the aim of proposing a ‘working’ model which involves the setting up of a monitoring and evaluating system. The paper concludes that although OHASA unveiled the muted marginalised voices, it soral history programme demonstrate elitism in critical emancipatory as mostly the stories of the elites are covered. Furthermore, such recorded stories are not accessible as the recordings are stashed in the boxes in archives repositories.

A forgotten past is the past that is yet to be

South Africa is one of the few countries in Africa that has a running oral history association. In some countries, especially in southern Africa, these oral history associations have arisen and then died a natural death. For example, Oral Traditions Association of Zimbabwe (OTAZI) did not last long. Therefore, it is a positive development for South Africa to have a functioning oral history association. The Oral History Association of South Africa (OHASA) is the brainchild of the government and is mainly funded by the government. It is involved in the coordination and documentation of stories that were silent during the apartheid era. Therefore, with this highly perceived task it is necessary to critically evaluate its successes and failures in meeting the objectives of the National Oral History Programme (NOHP). This paper, through document analysis and purposively selected interviews, critically evaluates the achievements and shortcomings of the OHASA from its inception to present with the aim of proposing a ‘working’ model which involves the setting up of a monitoring and evaluating system. The paper concludes that although OHASA unveiled the muted marginalised voices, it soral history programme demonstrate elitism in critical emancipatory as mostly the stories of the elites are covered. Furthermore, such recorded stories are not accessible as the recordings are stashed in the boxes in archives repositories.

A working model for condensate RNA-binding proteins as matchmakers for protein complex assembly

Most cellular processes are carried out by protein complexes, but it is still largely unknown how the subunits of lowly expressed complexes find each other in the crowded cellular environment. Here, we will describe a working model where RNA-binding proteins in cytoplasmic condensates act as matchmakers between their bound proteins (called protein targets) and newly translated proteins of their RNA targets to promote their assembly into complexes. Different RNA-binding proteins act as scaffolds for various cytoplasmic condensates with several of them supporting translation. mRNAs and proteins are recruited into the cytoplasmic condensates through binding to specific domains in the RNA-binding proteins. Scaffold RNA-binding proteins have a high valency. In our model, they use homotypic interactions to assemble condensates and they use heterotypic interactions to recruit protein targets into the condensates. We propose that unoccupied binding sites in the scaffold RNA-binding proteins transiently retain recruited and newly translated proteins in the condensates, thus promoting their assembly into complexes. Taken together, we propose that lowly expressed subunits of protein complexes combine information in their mRNAs and proteins to colocalize in the cytoplasm. The efficiency of protein complex assembly is increased by transient entrapment accomplished by multivalent RNA-binding proteins within cytoplasmic condensates.

CREATING A WORKING MODEL OF A DRIVERLESS AIRFIELD TOW TRUCK

The purpose of the research in this paper is to develop a promising airfield driverless tow truck to increase the economic efficiency of aircraft towing facilities, including unmanned aircrafts as well as to ensure reliable operation in various climatic conditions. The research methods include the analysis of the experience of using such driverless airfield tow trucks abroad, the theory of calculating traction and speed indicators and experimental studies conducted during the creation and study of field tests of devices used to load the driving wheels of a tractor. To achieve the goal, the configuration of the structure being designed and its intended composition are determined analytically. The operation of the designed device in the traction mode is considered, and the characteristic of calculating its indicators when moving along the support surface is presented. The presented material briefly illustrates the process from creating a model of a driverless airfield tow truck to the created design of an existing sample, which will later be used to conduct its full-scale tests and a comprehensive assessment of its strength traction and speed characteristics.

IS IT TIME TO RETHINK OUR SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT PRACTICES?

Covid-19 has proliferated across the nations with increasing number of cases each day. Thus, IT companies are now forced to operate from remote places with limited IT resources. However, these companies across the globe are on continuous touch with their software development and maintenance teams to ensure that they are productive and are able to deliver their services on the projects on time. We study the challenges faced by the IT companies at this juncture and the need for a different software development approach to complete the projects successfully even during such crisis. In this context, when the IT industries are making attempts to complete their on-going software projects and also to attend to some critical up-gradation in their previously delivered products, the challenges faced by them due to acute shortage of IT resources and transforming the working model from physical setup to remote platform needs to be studied. This calls for studying the existing software development models and practices and defining an alternate one that would suit the present IT scenario.

Is It Time to Rethink Our Software Development Practices?

Covid-19 has proliferated across the nations with increasing number of cases each day. Thus, IT companies are now forced to operate from remote places with limited IT resources. However, these companies across the globe are on continuous touch with their software development and maintenance teams to ensure that they are productive and are able to deliver their services on the projects on time. We study the challenges faced by the IT companies at this juncture and the need for a different software development approach to complete the projects successfully even during such crisis. In this context, when the IT industries are making attempts to complete their on-going software projects and also to attend to some critical up-gradation in their previously delivered products, the challenges faced by them due to acute shortage of IT resources and transforming the working model from physical setup to remote platform needs to be studied. This calls for studying the existing software development models and practices and defining an alternate one that would suit the present IT scenario.