Barriers in achieving quality valuations : the New Zealand perspective

Peer reviewe

Quantifying the embodied carbon of a low energy alternative method of construction (AMC) house in Nigeria

CO2 is a chemical compound in the process of climate change and the main cause of global warming. Efforts at arresting global warming, is to achieve the goal of carbon reduction or elimination. Greenhouse gases (GHGs) emissions are a global issue dominated by emission of CO2. Residential buildings contribute to climate change through carbon emission to the environment in the building procurement process and utilization. The present study is aimed at allowing for required support to the decision-making process of residential building design and construction. To this goal, the study assesses the Embodied Carbon (EC) of Whole Process of Construction (WPC) for the building. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) framework approach to a Low Income House (LIH) was adopted using process-based analysis method and Bath Inventory of Carbon and Energy (ICE). The findings reveal that the EC for the Alternative Method of Construction (AMC) stabilize clay block house is 16,175.67 kgCO2 (234.43 kg/m2). Even though, these findings cannot be generalized, but shows the significance of considering EC in making alternative choice for use in different building projects. Decarbonize schemes should be directed at the buildings' EC emissions. The best answer will be accomplished if the decarbonize attempts are aggregated with the prosperous and natural carbon sinks that exist in the context of this study

Impact of opioid-free analgesia on pain severity and patient satisfaction after discharge from surgery: multispecialty, prospective cohort study in 25 countries

Background: Balancing opioid stewardship and the need for adequate analgesia following discharge after surgery is challenging. This study aimed to compare the outcomes for patients discharged with opioid versus opioid-free analgesia after common surgical procedures.Methods: This international, multicentre, prospective cohort study collected data from patients undergoing common acute and elective general surgical, urological, gynaecological, and orthopaedic procedures. The primary outcomes were patient-reported time in severe pain measured on a numerical analogue scale from 0 to 100% and patient-reported satisfaction with pain relief during the first week following discharge. Data were collected by in-hospital chart review and patient telephone interview 1 week after discharge.Results: The study recruited 4273 patients from 144 centres in 25 countries; 1311 patients (30.7%) were prescribed opioid analgesia at discharge. Patients reported being in severe pain for 10 (i.q.r. 1-30)% of the first week after discharge and rated satisfaction with analgesia as 90 (i.q.r. 80-100) of 100. After adjustment for confounders, opioid analgesia on discharge was independently associated with increased pain severity (risk ratio 1.52, 95% c.i. 1.31 to 1.76; P < 0.001) and re-presentation to healthcare providers owing to side-effects of medication (OR 2.38, 95% c.i. 1.36 to 4.17; P = 0.004), but not with satisfaction with analgesia (beta coefficient 0.92, 95% c.i. -1.52 to 3.36; P = 0.468) compared with opioid-free analgesia. Although opioid prescribing varied greatly between high-income and low- and middle-income countries, patient-reported outcomes did not.Conclusion: Opioid analgesia prescription on surgical discharge is associated with a higher risk of re-presentation owing to side-effects of medication and increased patient-reported pain, but not with changes in patient-reported satisfaction. Opioid-free discharge analgesia should be adopted routinely

The prevalence of antimicrobial-resistant escherichia coli in pigs from Johore and Selangor

Eighty-nine (91/102) percent of the Escherichia coli isolates obtained from pigs on 6 farms in Johore and Selangor were shown to be resistant to one or more of the antimicrobial agents tested. Of these, 84% were resistant to Tetracycline, 77% to Streptomycin, 72% to Sulphonamides, 26% to Neomycin, 13% to Chloramphenicol and none to Nalidixic Acid. Almost all of the E. coli isolates from the commercial farms were resistant to Tetracycline, Streptomysin and Sulphonamides. Multiple antimicrobial resistant E. coli was prevalent in the commercial pig farms whilst in the smallholders, single antibiotic resistant E. coli was more dominant. The high prevalence of antimicrobial resistant E. coli from the animals studied could be attributed to antibiotic supplements in the feeds and/or frequent antibiotic therapy. In both management systems, the piglets appeared to be the age group that harboured most of the antimicrobial resistant E. coli. Altogether 30 E. coli strains were identified from the 102 isolates

Barriers and Aspirations for Sustainable Local Building Materials Selections in Nigeria

The construction activities have an effect upon the environment; it is consumer of a wide range of nature and synthesized products or resources. Sustainable local building materials selection beset with organisational and procedural difficulties meant by the use of environmental friendly materials that can reduce impacts on environment. These hindrances can be reduced by learning what kind of decision-making stages, new tasks, actors, functions and communication. The research adopted mixed method (qualitative and quantitative). The finding shows the existing gap between awareness and implementation of sustainable local building materials selection in decision making process, suggest the barriers that are valuable and sustainable for use in practice

Peculiarities of Small Companies Versus Insolvency Liability Framework in Nigeria

Small company directors in Nigeria are subjected to the same insolvency liability framework as medium and large company directors. Studies have shown around the world that regular insolvency law is not in tune with the needs of SM Es, which form the bulk of small companies in Nigeria. In response, countries adopt different insolvency resolution frameworks for their SMEs. International organizations such as UNCITRAL, IMF and Asian Development Bank have formulated insolvency law legislative guides for SM Es to guide countries. Based on this background, the paper using the provisions of Nigeria Companies and Allied Matters Act 2020 and secondary sources, examined the peculiarities faced by small company directors in a state of financial distress. Due to the distinctiveness of small companies in Nigeria, the directors continue to face daunting challenges that shape their actions in insolvency. The paper argued that Nigeria needs to adopt a unique insolvency liability pathway for small company directors to alleviate the cost, speed and the dilemma of displacing the owner-director during insolvency processes in the liability framework. Adopting the SMEs insolvencies framework will lead to fairness and efficiency of enforcement actions against erring small company directors in Nigeria, which is one of the aims that in solvency law seeks to achieve

Photodegradation of nitrobenzene using cobalt modified zinc oxide particles

This paper reports the synthesis and modification of zinc oxide, ZnO nanoparticles from zinc nitrate hexahydrate, citric acid and cobalt nitrate hexahydrate, using polyethylene glycol as a surfactant via a combination of hydrothermal and sol-gel methods. The sample was calcined at 500 °C for 2 h. The characterization of the nanoparticles was done using XRD, TEM, FESEM and BET surface area measurement analysis. The photodegradation study was run for 2 h in an improvised photoreactor using an 18 W visible light source. The extent of photodegradation and mineralization was conducted using UV-visible spectroscopy, COD and TOC measurements. The band gap energy was measured using UV-visible spectroscopy and it was found to be 3.22 eV. The XRD results confirmed the ZnO nanoparticles of being hexagonal with Wurtzite structure. The morphology as revealed by TEM and FESEM showed the samples to be spherical in shape and with particle size less than 100 nm. The surface area of the catalyst as measured via BET is 17.566 m2/g. After 2 h of degradation 80.39 % of nitrobenzene was removed. The COD and TOC results removal reach 79 and 66 %, respectively. From the results it could be understood that ZnO synthesized and modified using cobalt nitrate could be an effective candidate for wastewater treatment. - See more at: http://www.asianjournalofchemistry.co.in/user/journal/viewarticle.aspx?ArticleID=26_27_67#sthash.UcbNjrzp.dpu