Categorisation of Road Construction Projects’ Cost Overruns Causes using Factor Analysis

Cost overrun is a major problem in the construction industry and a threat to the financial freedom of any country. Considering that Nigerian roads are constructed at very high cost, cost overruns could lead to significant reduction in the quality and number of projects that can be implemented. A vast number of cost overruns causes have been identified by various studies. However, the large number of possible causes makes managing and controlling them very challenging. This study, therefore, aims at categorising the causes in order to simplify their minimisation by identifying their latent constructs. Seventy-one (71) factors identified through literature review and ranked by questionnaire survey respondents. The survey involved 267 respondents (clients, contractors and consultants) that have worked on road construction projects. The collected data were analysed using exploratory factor analysis. Eight factors emerged from the 42 retained causes of cost overruns; contract related, economic and political, design and documentation, financial related, technical related, policy related, construction management related, and natural related causes. With this classification, it is easier to identify the group that has the most significant causes of cost overruns thus providing more information for better management

Household Composition and Anti-Poverty Programmes on Welfare in Nigeria: A Comparative Analysis

The global fight on poverty has been consistently defeated at the sub-Sahara African front, as this social menace strengths its grips in the region. In Nigeria, the issue of poverty is widely discussed and new policy strands articulated from a broader perspective are cropping up in order to put the soaring rise in poverty incidence in check. This renewed interest on the topic stems from the fact that policy formulators have taken into cognizance that poverty is a multi-dimension concept that requires a well-articulated and multi-dimension strategy. A strategy that transcends beyond nominal proclamation or budgetary allocation to combating poverty to a strategy that tackles poverty in its context and root causes. Adopting an ANCOVA-regression model on primary survey data obtained from two socio-cultural and economic distinct rural communities in Eastern and Northern Nigeria, this paper examines the impact of household composition and anti-poverty programmes on household welfare. The results got from the decomposed regression model show that the impact of household composition on welfare is contingent on the underlying geographical, socio-cultural and economic characteristics of the area. Also, ownership of productively viable assets helps in explaining how household size affects household welfare. Moreover, the impact of anti-poverty programmes was found to yield significant result at Ikeje study area because these programmes are targeted towards the major livelihood engagement (agriculture) of the people. While anti-poverty programmes could not achieve same significant results at Anaocha study area due to its inability to take into cognizance the different livelihood engagements of the people. The policy implication it engenders is that anti-poverty policy should recognize area specifics, thus allowing for proper integration of the poor in the policy formulation and implementation. Policy should be aimed at both agricultural and non-agricultural activities. Key words: Household Composition, Poverty Alleviation Programmes, Ikeje, Anaocha, ANCOV

Digestibility and nutrient intake of African Giant Land Snails (Archachatina marginata) hatchlings fed municipal organic waste with foliage and grass/legume

Snails are important kind of micro livestock in the animal industry with a wide range of economic value and significance, the study determined the digestibility and nutrient intake of African Giant Land Snails (Archachatina marginata) hatchlings fed municipal organic waste, foliage or grass/legume using Completely Randomized Design. The experiment had four (4) treatments with five (5) replicates each, the experimental diets were diet 1 (100% municipal organic waste), diet 2 (100% grasses), diet 3 (75% grasses and 25% legume) and diet 4 (100% foliage). There were 25 hatchlings per replicate. The experiment lasted for 120 days. Snail hatchlings fed experimental diet 4, maintained higher significant (P<0.05) results for diet protein intake, digestible protein for growth, total digestible protein for gain, digestible protein, gross protein value, protein replacement value, and a better protein utilization efficiency. Dietary fibre intake was (P<0.05) higher on diet 3, 2 and 1, lower on diet 4, digestible fibre for growth showed (P<0.05) higher and similar values for diet 4 and 1, lower values for diet 3 and 2, digestible fibre and fibre replacement value decreased (P<0.05) in the order diet, 2, 3, 1 and 4, for efficiency of fibre utilization, diet 2 and 3 showed better fibre utilization efficiency. Dietary fat intake, digestible fat, fat replacement value showed (P<0.05) higher for diet 1, and with a better fat utilization efficiency. Snail’s micro-biota had high substrates dependency role on the quality of feed nutrient utilization in a symbiotic mechanism that helped in the breakdown and digestion of feed materials

Circadian Variations in Blood Pressure, Heart Rate, and HR-BP Cross-Correlation Coefficient during Progression of Diabetes Mellitus in Rat

Circadian changes in cardiovascular function during the progression of diabetes mellitus in the diabetes prone rat (BBDP) (n = 8) were studied. Age-matched diabetes-resistant rats (BBDR) served as controls. BP was recorded via telemetry in contiguous 4 hr time periods over 24 hours starting with 12 midnight to 4 am as period zero (P0). Prior to onset of diabetes BP was high at P0, peaked at P2, and then fell again at P3; BP and heart rate (HR) then increased gradually at P4 and leveled off at P5, thereby exhibiting a bipodal rhythm. These patterns changed during long-term diabetes. The cross-correlation coefficient of BP and HR was not significantly different across groups at onset, but it fell significantly at 9 months of duration of diabetes (BBDP: 0.39 ± 0.06; BBDR: 0.65 ± 0.03; P < .05). These results show that changes in circadian cardiovascular rhythms in diabetes mellitus became significant at the late stage of the disease

Recognition, assessment and treatment of social anxiety disorder: summary of NICE guidance

Social anxiety disorder is one of the most persistent and common of the anxiety disorders, with lifetime prevalence rates in Europe of 6.7% (range 3.9-13.7%).1 It often coexists with depression, substance use disorder, generalised anxiety disorder, panic disorder, and post-traumatic stress disorder.2 It can severely impair a person’s daily functioning by impeding the formation of relationships, reducing quality of life, and negatively affecting performance at work or school. Despite this, and the fact that effective treatments exist, only about half of people with this condition seek treatment, many after waiting 10-15 years.3 Although about 40% of those who develop the condition in childhood or adolescence recover before adulthood,4 for many the disorder persists into adulthood, with the chance of spontaneous recovery then limited compared with other mental health problems. This article summarises the most recent recommendations from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) on recognising, assessing, and treating social anxiety disorder in children, young people, and adults.

CLOUD DEPLOYMENT MODELS FOR RESILIENCE INTERNET DISASTER RECOVERY: A REVIEW

Organizations of all sizes require safeguarding of their data on regular basis, which makes disaster recovery and backup procedures, a much desired responsibility. This paper reviewed the various cloud deployment models for resilience internet disaster recovery in cloud computing environment. The work was able to show the relevance of deployment of appropriate disaster recovery models in cloud computing environment that can help to improve quality of service and customer confidence in their service provider

Cloud Deployment Models for Resilience Internet Disaster Recovery: A Review

Organizations of all sizes require safeguarding of their data on regular basis, which makes disaster recovery and backup procedures, a much desired responsibility. This paper reviewed the various cloud deployment models for resilience internet disaster recovery in cloud computing environment. The work was able to show the relevance of deployment of appropriate disaster recovery models in cloud computing environment that can help to improve quality of service and customer confidence in their service provider

DEVELOPMENT OF AN ENHANCED CLOUD DEPLOYMENT MODEL FOR RESILIENT INTERNET DISASTER RECOVERY AND MANAGEMENT

Effective Internet disaster recovery and management is taking front burner consideration in organizations involved in Information Technology (IT) activities in order to safeguard their data and services on regular basis. When disaster, for instance knocks down the infrastructure of a single service provider, it usually will have ripple effect on the dependants that even a short period of down time can result in significant financial loss. Therefore, organizations may need disaster recovery plan or independent business continuity plan (IBCP) and backup policy that they can afford while at the same time achieving the primary aim of Recovery Point Objective (RPO) and Recovery Time Objective (RTO). This paper presents a hybrid of three Internet disaster recovery models of TAIJI, SECONDSITE and HS-DRT which can help organizations recover more quickly whenever Internet disaster occurred in their platforms. The system was developed using a combination of Structural System Analysis and Design Methodology (SSADM), Dynamic System and Development Methodology (DSDM) and Object Oriented and Design Methodology (OOADM). Java Enterprise (JEE) Technology in conjunction with NetBean1.0. Integrated Development Environment IDE were used at the front end, while MySQL server was used to implement the backend. The result obtained showed that a hybrid of Taji, SecondSite and HS-DRT which combined the features of; replication, duplication, server watch dog, check pointing, encryption, decryption, fragmentation, defragmentation and stateless services indicated an enhanced model for disaster recovery, since the deficiencies of each of those models hybridized were addressed through such features exhibited by the new model, which include; checksumming, compression and decompressio

Performance of West African Dwarf goats fed maize offal diets supplemented with dry poultry excreta

The nutritional quality of poultry excreta in replacement of maize offal was evaluated in 16 growing West African Dwarf (WAD) goats (eight females and eight males about eight months of age) with an average liveweight of 6.5 kg. The goats were allotted to four different diets containing 0% (T1, control treatment), 10% (T2), 20% (T3) and 30% (T4) poultry excreta in maize offal based diets. Each animal was fed its assigned diet ad libitum for 120 days. Feed intake, daily weight gain, feed conversion ratio and fat efficiency ratio were generally higher (p 0.05). The leg, loin, rank, lean, shoulder, brisket cuts, fat and bone generally improved (p 0.05) in all treatments, except in T3 where it was slightly higher. It is concluded that WAD goats could be sustained on poultry excreta as a component of formulated diets for increased performances in weight gain, feed conversion ratio, carcass yield, and increased economic benefits to farmers