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The purpose of this paper is to design an electromechanical actuator which can inherently tolerate a stuck or loose failure without any need for fault detection isolation and reconfiguration.

Generalized design methodology for a thrust vector control application is adopted to reduce the design iterations during the initial stages of the design. An optimum ball screw pitch is selected to minimize the motor sizing and maximize the load acceleration.

A high redundancy electromechanical actuator for thrust vector control has lower self-inertia and higher reliability than a direct drive simplex configuration. This configuration is a feasible solution for thrust vector control application because it offers a more acceptable and graceful degradation than a complete failure.

Future work will include testing on actual hardware to study the transient disturbances caused by a fault and their effect on launch vehicle dynamics.

High redundancy electromechanical actuator concept can be extended to similar applications such as solid motor nozzle in satellite launch vehicles and primary flight control system in aircraft.

High redundancy actuators can be useful in safety critical applications involving human beings. It can also reduce the machine downtime in industrial process automation.

The jam tolerant electromechanical actuator proposed for the launch vehicle application has a unique configuration which does not require a complex fault detection isolation and reconfiguration logic in the controller. This enhances the system reliability and allows a simplex controller having a lower cost.

The purpose of this paper is to conduct an experimental investigation on the shock cell structure of jets emanating from a four-lobed corrugated nozzle using Schlieren imaging technique.

The Schlieren images were captured for seven different nozzle pressure ratios (NPR = 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8) and compared with the shock cell structure of a round nozzle with an identical exit area. The variation in the length of the shock cell, width of boundary interaction between adjacent shock cells, maximum width of first shock cell, Mach disk position and diameter for different NPR was measured from the Schlieren images and analysed.

A three-layer shock net observed in the jet emanating from the four-lobed corrugated nozzle is a novel concept in the field of under-expanded jet flows. A shock net represents interconnected layers of shock cells developed because of the interaction between the core and peripheral shock waves in a jet emanating from a corrugated lobed nozzle. Also, the pattern of shock net is different while taking Schlieren images across the groove and lobe sections. Thus, the shock net emerging from a corrugated lobed nozzle varies azimuthally and primarily depends on the nozzle exit cross section. The length of the shock cell, width of boundary interaction between adjacent shock cells, maximum width of first cell, Mach disk position and diameter were found to exhibit increasing trend with NPR.

A novel concept of interconnected layers of shock waves defined as “shock net” developed from a single jet emanating from a four-lobed corrugated nozzle was observed.

Nowadays, various software is available for simulating physical processes in induction heating. The software is often limited in its ability to simulate the billet movement, sometimes assuming uniform distribution of voltages on the inductor winding, uniformity of the physical properties of the billet, etc. The mathematical model of moving cylindrical ferromagnetic billets described in this paper takes into account the billet's movement, the billet phase heterogeneity and the nonuniformity of the supply voltage distribution in the inductor turns. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

The research methodology is based on FEM analysis of the coupled problem, including the electromagnetic and thermal boundary problem with additional algebraic equations, using Comsol 3.5a software.

The electromagnetic and temperature field in the billet and the voltage distribution on the winding turns have been calculated. The phase distribution in the billet has been predicted. Significant interaction of the nonuniformity of the supply voltage distribution, the billet's movement, the billet phase heterogeneity and side effect on the ends of the inductor have been shown.

The results received can be used for designing the induction heating unit for moving cylindrical billets made from ferromagnetic material and improving their characteristics.

Investigation of moving cylindrical ferromagnetic billets induction heating can be done by numerical solving the coupled problem including the electromagnetic and thermal boundary problem with additional algebraic equations for the supply voltage distribution.

This study shows how presumed “HR-trends,” such as the recent promotion of Employee Experience (EX) design, are never value-free ideas of a presumably objective “best practice”, but rather a vehicle for legitimizing HR in the organization, and investigate the implications.

This study is rooted in critical HRM studies. Our methodology is the critical discourse analysis (CDA) of online job postings concerning “EX-positions.”

EX is a new vehicle for HR's ongoing struggle for legitimacy. By repositioning HR managers as “EX-designers,” it promises to integrate the previously conflicting roles of HR as advocate of the individual employee and as strategic partner on the organizational level. Yet, it also raises the question of what is at stake for HR and might even decrease the organizational involvement of HR.

This study highlights the relevance of a critical HRM perspective for moving beyond disciplinary blind spots. It shows the value of CDA for gathering insights into the hidden assumptions underlying HRM theory and practice.

EX design has been put forward as a new best-practice HR trend, promoting the relevance of HR in the organization. This paper shows that this trend is associated with potential gains as well as with potential losses. Practitioners need to be aware of these risks in order to increase the likelihood for a positive impact when implementing EX design.

The authors show how HR trends, such as EX, are manifestations of HR's ongoing struggle for legitimacy. Specifically, the authors uncover the legitimization agenda underlying EX, its implications for HR roles and responsibilities and the knowledge claims associated with it.

Extraction of leaf region from the plant leaf images is a prerequisite process for species recognition, disease detection and classification and so on, which are required for crop management. Several approaches were developed to implement the process of leaf region segmentation from the background. However, most of the methods were applied to the images taken under laboratory setups or plain background, but the application of leaf segmentation methods is vital to be used on real-time cultivation field images that contain complex backgrounds. So far, the efficient method that automatically segments leaf region from the complex background exclusively for black gram plant leaf images has not been developed.

Extracting leaf regions from the complex background is cumbersome, and the proposed PLRSNet (Plant Leaf Region Segmentation Net) is one of the solutions to this problem. In this paper, a customized deep network is designed and applied to extract leaf regions from the images taken from cultivation fields.

The proposed PLRSNet compared with the state-of-the-art methods and the experimental results evident that proposed PLRSNet yields 96.9% of Similarity Index/Dice, 94.2% of Jaccard/IoU, 98.55% of Correct Detection Ratio, Total Segmentation Error of 0.059 and Average Surface Distance of 3.037, representing a significant improvement over existing methods particularly taking into account of cultivation field images.

In this work, a customized deep learning network is designed for segmenting plant leaf region under complex background and named it as a PLRSNet.

The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate applicability of design thinking in creating employee centric HR solutions. This application is studied in the context of a food tech company. A design thinking process for arriving at an HR solution for employee experience management is proposed.

The study uses a single case study method. The HR professionals of a food tech company were interviewed to relate their narratives with the existing conceptual framework on design thinking.

It was found that the firm focused on the technological supremacy as well as developed an engaged and motivated team of delivery boys. This provided the required competitive advantage and growth. The first step in implementing the HR solution was to collect primary data for insights into the pain and gain points in employee’s day to day routine. Using the lens of empathy, multiple touch points through incentive policies, rewards, work engagement tools, feedback, inclusive decision making, and technology enabled learning solutions were designed. These signaled a caring and employee centric leadership and built future orientation and engaged the employees.

By demonstrating the applicability of design thinking and linking it to the HR solutions, a conceptual model relevant to the Food Tech industry was proposed. By integrating the process used to reach the solution, a modified model can be developed by other HR professionals working in any other Food tech company, aggregator/ service providers or logistics companies.

The study is among the initial studies to approach design thinking for HR solutions in a food tech industry.

This paper explores and interprets the linkage between total quality management (TQM) practices and organizational performance measures for improving the healthcare firms’ performance. Indian healthcare firms are aware of TQM practices and their benefits, but the awareness level varies among the firms and staff. The study looks into the effectiveness of quality awareness to meet quality performance in Indian hospitals.

A questionnaire based on previous research was circulated among the managers and medical staff. The model linking TQM and organizational performance is analyzed with structural equation modelling and confirmed the hypotheses stated. Interpretations to improve hospital performance are made.

The study identified ten relevant TQM factors and confirmed their importance towards the improved organizational performance of Indian hospitals. Top management initiative, continuous process improvement and team work are the most contributing TQM factors. Differences in the awareness levels by the management staff and medical staff are attributed. The managers and medical staff are aware of the benefits of TQM towards firm performance, but it is to be improved further.

Cross-validation and interpretation are affected due to the limited sample size. Longitudinal study is recommended to explore the individual hospital as specific cases. Larger sample size is suggested as an extended work to overcome the demographic and infrastructural limitations of the firms included.

The management is more interested in TQM, but there is lack of awareness among the staff. The quality awareness and customer focus by medical staff are the most weakly loaded factors, and the weaknesses can be remedied by the lead role by the hospital management in providing proper training and thereby improving the attitude of the medical staff.

Effectiveness of hospital operations is highly dependent on customer focus. Properly communicated, committed and trained staff with good-quality awareness can better implement TQM and thereby improve hospital performance. Lead role by the management is very important, and the paper lists ways to attain these outcomes.

Very little is reported from the Indian healthcare sector linking TQM and outcome performance. The quality awareness, customer focus, communication and learning by the medical staff are to be improved, and the paper suggests ways to link TQM more effectively to improve the performance in hospitals. These findings may be useful to the managers, medical staff and researchers in healthcare to bring better results.

This paper aims to present harmonic response of magneto‐electro‐elastic cylinder by quasi‐static and fully dynamic electromagnetic theories. The quasi‐static assumption uses magnetic scalar potential whereas magnetic vector potential is employed in a fully dynamic model.

The electric field induced by time varying magnetic field is non‐conservative and can be described by electric scalar potential and magnetic vector potentials.

The magnitude of vector potential is dominant in axial and circumferential direction whereas the magnetic flux density is significant in radial direction. Magnetic scalar potential approach evaluates only the radial component of magnetic flux density and electric field intensity is reasonably the same as that of the magnetic vector potential approach.

Semi‐analytical finite element method is used in this paper and the vector potential is formulated in cylindrical coordinates.

Fish are considered as one of the important aquatic animals in the planet. They play a vital role in the nutrient cycle. They can be considered as one of the healthy food for human beings. They can also act as a solution for some of the human health problems. If fish are affected by several diseases, they in turn provide an adverse effect on human health. Therefore, it is very much essential to protect fish from being affected by any diseases.

This paper is mainly focused on the identification of the red spot diseased area in fish. In this work, a fuzzy rule based method (FRBAM) and triangular membership function (TMFN) is used to identify the red spot disease (RSD) in the fish by analyzing several red spot diseased fish (RSDF) images. The canny edge detector is used for intermediate processing of RSDF images.

The proposed method is able to identify the red pixels over the fish by marking the affected area with red color by using a standard RGB model.

The proposed method follows FRBAM and TMFN in order to detect the RSD and canny edge detector for processing of RSDF images. Finally, it is tested using ten different image sizes and the results show its better performance in terms of detection of RSD affected regions of fish and execution time.

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the macroeconomic determinants of life insurance demand in India. The recent decline in life insurance activity calls for a study on the factors influencing life insurance demand in India.

This study employs econometric techniques like augmented Dickey-Fuller test, Johansen cointegration test, vector error correction models and the Granger causality test to estimate the macroeconomic predictors of life insurance demand in India, during the period 1980-1981 to 2013-2014.

Financial sector development and inflation positively influence life insurance demand in India. The real rate of interest and income are negatively related to life insurance consumption. The study finds an insignificant relation between the level of social security expenditure and life insurance buying. Financial sector development is found to Granger-cause life insurance demand.

Product-wise analysis of life insurance demand is not attempted due to lack of unit-level data. The impact of regulatory changes on life insurance demand in India is not attempted.

Intervention by the policy makers is required to arrest the decline of life insurance activity in India. Efforts are required to widen the financial sector of the Indian economy to accelerate the growth of life insurance activity.

The paper introduces a new measure of life insurance demand, the total regular new business premium, in the estimation of life insurance demand determination.