Why I left and why I want to leave: A Phenomenological Perspective of Asian Employees Turnover

The current research was conducted to explore the possible causes of actual employee turnover and turnover intentions. Using Post positivism research philosophy, phenomenological qualitative research method was used to explore the phenomena. Semi-structured interviews of 21 bank employees (selected using purposive sampling) were conducted which were analyzed using NVivo 12. The research findings suggest many uniques themes in order to overcome the problem of employee turnover, especially for banks. The themes which were developed consisted of five significant themes such as the bank appraisals and reward system was identified as biased and based more on favoritism, employee feel that their actual performance is not evaluated properly and sincerely. The other factor concluded by the research findings is that the employees are dissatisfied with the salary and benefits, as they felt that there should a consistent effort to identify employee personal needs which should be customized accordingly in their compensation plans as well. The very essential factor recognized in the research finding was the upward and downward communication gaps with the employees. Such perceptions generated related issues as the employees felt that branches are much deprived to have a direct communication channel with the top team heads. The other very essential factor discovered after the investigation of the phenomena of turnover is lack of career growth. Lastly, another important cause of employee turnover was the transfers, which took place without the consent of the employee. Employees felt demotivated due to such transfers and changes in their work locations. Recommendations and future research directions have been at the end of the research

Studies on Microbial Electrochemical Cells Using Different Anode Respiring Bacteria

Microbial electrochemical cell (MXC) technology is a source of sustainable energy which comes from microorganisms. Recent advances in the fields of electromicrobiology and electrochemistry with focus on microbial electrolysis cells (MECs) has earned this technology its name as alternate “green energy”. Despite advances, this technology is still facing challenges to address low power and current density output. Thermoanaerobacter pseudethanolicus 39E (ATCC 33223), a thermophilic, Fe(III)-reducing, and fermentative bacterium, was evaluated for its ability to produce current from four electron donors xylose, glucose, cellobiose, and acetate with a fixed anode potential (+ 0.042 V vs SHE) in a microbial electrochemical cell (MXC). Under thermophilic conditions (60 °C), T. pseudethanolicus produced high current densities from xylose (5.8 ± 2.4 Am −2 ), glucose (4.3 ± 1.9 A m −2 ), and cellobiose (5.2 ± 1.6 A m −2 ). It produced insignificant current when grown with acetate, but consumed the acetate produced from sugar fermentation to produce electrical current. Low-scan cyclic voltammetry (LSCV) revealed a sigmoidal response with a midpoint potential of −0.17 V vs SHE. Coulombic efficiency (CE) varied by electron donor, with xylose at 34.8% ± 0.7%, glucose at 65.3% ± 1.0%, and cellobiose at 27.7% ± 1.5%. Anode respiration was sustained over a pH range of 5.4−8.3, with higher current densities observed at alkaline pH values. Scanning electron microscopy showed a well-developed biofilm of T. pseudethanolicus on the anode, and confocal laser scanning microscopy demonstrated a maximum biofilm thickness (Lf) greater than ~150 μm for the glucose-fed biofilm. Microbial electrochemical cells (MXCs) are devices powered by microorganisms to generate electricity via oxidation of organic substrates. It is critical to understand the significance of sediment inocula in forming anodic biofilms to improve MEC performance. Five environmental samples were evaluated for electrical current production using acetate-fed microbial electrolysis cells (MECs). Three of these samples were able to produce significant current densities ranging between 3 to 6.3 Am -2 . 16S rDNA targeted deep sequencing comparisons of anodic biofilms and sediment bacterial community structures revealed significant differences in bacterial community structures. Bacterial community producing the highest current density ixafter enrichment was dominated by the class Bacteroidia, δ-proteobacteria and Erysipelotrichi. Comparison of phylogenetic information of bacterial communities with 7 previously reported enriched samples by reconstruction of unobserved states (PICRUSt) analysis clearly distinguished the biofilm communities from the sediment inocula in terms of higher abundance of genes related to anode respiration. Principal Coordinate Analysis (PCoA) also indicated that the clustering of biofilm communities was in accordance with the predominant genera in each sample, such as Geobacter dominating one cluster of biofilms. All the sediments formed a single cluster, which included the Carolina mangrove biofilm community which showed only minor changes from its originating sediment community after enrichment. Predominantly, high current densities are associated with the enrichment of a few microorganisms, often within a single family; however, this organism can be different depending on the inoculum source. Because the selective enrichment selects for just a few bacteria, the biofilm community is significantly different from that of the sediment. While δ- proteobacteria (or the family Geobacteraceae) is dominant in many samples producing high current densities, other samples show communities with yet unidentified ARB as the major fraction.