A Risk Analysis of Construction Projects Delay Factors in the United Kingdom

Project time overruns is a recurring challenge in the construction industry. This paper mainly identified the causes of construction project delays, analysed the probability and impact of occurrence, and ranked the risk factors. The identified factors are categorised into Client, Consultant, Contractor, and External related factors. To achieve the research objective, the identified delay factors were part of a questionnaire survey; and responses were yielded from building construction experts in the United Kingdom. The relative importance index (RII) method was applied to prioritise the probability and impact of project delay factors and determine the risk level. In the four categories, delay in decision-making and order issuance by the client, variation and changes in design, delay in the approval of drawings, and delay in design preparation and late revision of designs are some of the identified top-ranking risks. In addition, the delay in providing utilities, construction mistakes, defective works and rework, adverse weather conditions, and delays or issues regarding permissions and statutory approvals are among the top-ranking risks. This research is expected to significantly contribute to and improve the understanding and perception of the risks posed by the various delay factors, especially in the building construction industry

Empirical Investigation into Industrial Relations and National Productivity in Nigeria

This paper investigated the impact of the poor industrial relations on the National productivity in Nigeria. The paper is a contribution to the often debated issue of privatization of the proliferated public parastatals. In the study, time series data over the period 1970 – 2004 was used and the modified Least Square was employed as analytical tool. The study found that trade disputes and work stoppages negatively affect the growth of national productivity; proxied by per capita income. Evidence also suggests that the shock received by the economy through trade disputes is mostly felt in subsequent year – a phenomenon known as J – Curve. The policy implication of the study was that government should seek possible ways to improve workers productivity especially in those establishments and parastatals which can not be privatized. Keywords: Industrial Relations, Productivity, Nigerian Econom

Self-Efficacy and Use of Electronic Information as Predictors of Academic Performance

Abstract Students’ ability to find and retrieve information effectively is a transferable skill useful for their future life as well as enabling the positive and successful use of the electronic resources while at school. It is a known fact in this digital era that any student at the higher level who intends to better achieve and go further in academics should have the ability to explore the digital environment. Students are increasingly expected to use electronic information resources while at the university. Research was undertaken to determine the level of influence of self-efficacy and the use of electronic information resources on students’ academic performance. This study examined self-efficacy and the use of electronic information as predictors of academic performance. Its participants were comprised of 700 students (undergraduate and postgraduate) randomly drawn from seven departments in the faculty of education, University of Ibadan, Nigeria. Data on the study was collected through the Morgan-Jinks (1999) academic self-efficacy scale and the use of the electronic information scale (UEIS) with r = 0.75. Three research questions were raised to guide the study. The results indicate that self-efficacy and the use of electronic information jointly predict and contribute to academic performance; that respondents with high self-efficacy make better use of electronic information and have better academic performance; that a correlation exists among self-efficacy, use of electronic information and academic performance; and that the use of electronic information influenced respondents\u27 performance in General Education subjects more than other subjects. Finally, the results reveal that the Internet is the electronic information source students access for information most often. Implications of these results and recommendations are discussed

EFFECTIVE ALKALINE PEROXIDE OXIDATION PRETREATMENT OF SHEA TREE SAWDUST FOR THE PRODUCTION OF BIOFUELS: KINETICS OF DELIGNIFICATION AND ENZYMATIC CONVERSION TO SUGAR AND SUBSEQUENT PRODUCTION OF ETHANOL BY FERMENTATION USING Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Shea tree sawdust delignification kinetic data during alkaline peroxide pretreatment were investigated at temperatures of 120 °C, 135 °C, and 150 °C. The activation energy during delignification was 76.4 kJ/mol and the Arrhenius constant was calculated as 8.4 x 106 per min. The reducing sugar yield for the treated to the untreated biomass was about 22-fold. Enzymatic hydrolysis conditions studied were; time (72 h and 96 h), substrate concentration (20, 30, 40, and 50 g/L), and enzyme loadings (10, 25, 40, 50 FPU/g dry biomass), which showed the optimum conditions of 96 h, 40 g/L, and 25 FPU/g dry biomass at 45 °C hydrolysis temperature. At the optimized enzymatic hydrolysis conditions, the reducing sugar yield was 416.32 mg equivalent glucose/g treated dry biomass. After 96 h fermentation of treated biomass, the ethanol obtained at 2% effective cellulose loading was 12.73 g/L. Alkaline peroxide oxidation pretreatment and subsequent enzymatic hydrolysis improved the ethanol yield of the biomass

Utilization of lignocellulosic waste for ethanol production: Enzymatic digestibility and fermentation of pretreated shea tree sawdust

Enzymatic hydrolysis and fermentation methods were evaluated on alkaline peroxide pretreated shea tree sawdust conversion to ethanol. Optimum pretreatment conditions of 120 oC reaction temperature, 30 min reaction time, and 20 mL L−1 of water hydrogen peroxide concentration (1%(v/v)H2O2) solubilized 679 g kg−1 of hemicellulose and 172 g kg−1 of lignin. 617 g kg−1 cellulose was retained in the solid fraction. The maximum yield of reducing sugar with optimized enzyme loadings by two enzyme preparations (cellulase and β-glucosidase) was 165 g kg−1 of dry biomass. The ethanol yield was 7.35 g L−1 after 72 h incubation period under the following conditions: 2% cellulose loading, enzyme concentration was 25 FPU (g cellulose)−1 loading, yeast inoculums was 10% (v/v), 32 oC, and pH 4.8. The pretreatments gave information about the hindrances caused by lignin presence in lignocellulosic materials and that hemicelluloses are better hydrolyzed than lignin, thereby enhancing enzymatic digestibility of the sawdust materia

Femoral neck fractures as a complication of hip arthroscopy: a systematic review.

The purpose of this study was to identify the causes and risk factors for hip fractures, a rare but devastating complication, following hip arthroscopy. The electronic databases MEDLINE, EMBASE and PubMed were searched and screened in duplicate for relevant clinical and basic sciences studies and pertinent data was abstracted and analysed in Microsoft Excel. Nineteen studies (12 clinical studies and seven biomechanical studies) with a total of 31 392 patients experiencing 43 hip fractures (0.1% of patients) met the inclusion criteria for this systematic review. Femoral osteochondroplasty was performed in 100% of patients who sustained a hip fracture. Six of the 12 (50%) studies identified early weight bearing (prior to 6 weeks post-operatively) as the cause for the hip fracture. Other causes of this complication included over resection during femoral osteochondroplasty, minor trauma and intensive exercise. The results suggest that early weight bearing is the largest modifiable risk factor for hip fracture after femoral osteochondroplasty. For this reason, an extended period of non-weight bearing or restricted weight bearing should be considered in select patients. Studies report a correlation between risk for post-operative hip fracture and increased age. Increased resection during osteochondroplasty has been correlated with increased risk of fracture in various basic science studies. Resection depth has significantly higher impact on risk of fracture than resection length or width. The reported amounts of resection that depth that can be performed before there is a significantly increased risk of fracture of the femoral neck varies from 10 to 30%

The case of 'A Rhino Horn': case report and proposal for modification to the Hetsroni and Kelly classification.

Subspine impingement syndrome by definition involves a prominent antero-inferior iliac spine (AIIS) which can lead to impingement on the femoral neck thereby causing symptoms. We present the case of a 22-year-old semi-professional athlete who presented with a Type III AIIS morphology leading to subspine impingement syndrome and was managed via a mini open anterior approach. Radiological examination revealed a fairly prominent left AIIS resembling the 'horn of a rhino' extending to the trochanteric region anteriorly. A mini-anterior surgical approach was utilized for the resection of the 'rhino horn' and the rectus femoris was reattached. The patient remained asymptomatic at the one-year follow-up and had resumed weightlifting. Following this case, we propose a new classification of the type III AIIS morphology in view of the clinical presentation. The AIIS type III-Standard represents an extension from the acetabular rim to less than 1 cm (type III-S) and type III-Large, with an extension from the acetabular rim beyond 1 cm (type III-L). The type III-L will further be divided into two groups based on its relation to the ilium, type III-Lr ('rib shape') and type III-Lrh ('rhino horn')

Level of clinical evidence presented at the open and closed American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons annual meeting over 10 years (2005-2014)

© 2016 The Author(s). Background: The American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons (ASES) annual scientific meetings are premier forums whereby orthopaedic surgeons are informed of the latest research advances in shoulder and elbow surgery. The purpose of the present study was to assess the Level of evidence (LOE) in the clinical papers presented at both the open and closed ASES annual scientific meetings from 2005 to 2014. Secondarily, the study evaluated whether there were any changes in the distribution of LOE over this period of time. Methods: Two reviewers independently evaluated the abstracts of 532 paper presentations at either the open or closed ASES annual meetings. The independent reviewers first screened the abstracts for clinical evidence and excluded cadaveric, biomechanical, technique, and review studies. The included abstracts were then independently graded for methodological quality using LOE from Level I (highest quality) to IV (lowest quality) based on the classification system created by The American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS). Results: Overall, 421 presentations were included and graded for LOE. In general, 17% of the presentations were graded level I; 15% level II; 25% level III; and 43% assigned a LOE of IV. Chi-square analysis demonstrated a statistically significant improvement in the LOE of presentations at the open and closed ASES meetings combined (p = 0.028) between the years 2005 and 2014. In particular, the proportion of presentations graded as level IV significantly decreased over this period (p = \u3c0.001). Conclusions: While most presentations at the ASES annual scientific meetings were of lower LOEs the percentage of level I evidence is greater than that reported at other Orthopaedic meetings. There has been a significant improvement in the LOE of clinical research at open and closed ASES meetings from 2005 to 2014. Specifically, the proportion of level IV studies have dramatically decreased over time

Five-year publication rate of clinical presentations at the open and closed American shoulder and elbow surgeons annual meeting from 2005–2010

© 2016, The Author(s). Background: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the five-year publication rate of papers presented at both the open and closed American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons’ (ASES) annual meetings from 2005 to 2010. Methods: Online abstracts of the presentations at the open and closed ASES annual meetings were independently screened for clinical studies and graded for quality using level of evidence. The databases PubMed (MEDLINE), Ovid (MEDLINE), and EMBASE were comprehensively searched for full-text publications corresponding to these presentations and any paper published within five years of the presentation date was counted. Results: Overall, 131/266 papers corresponding to the meeting presentations were identified for a five-year publication rate of 49.2 %. Sixty two (48 %) of the papers were published in The Journal of Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons, 23 (18 %) were published in The American Journal of Sports Medicine, and 20 (16 %) were published in The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery. The mean patient sample size included in presentations with a subsequent full-text publication was higher (154; standard error =27) than the presentations not published (93; standard error = 13) (p = 0.039). There was no correlation (p = 0.248) between the publication rate and the level of evidence of the presentations. Conclusions: The publication rate of presentations at ASES meetings from 2005 to 2010 is similar to that reported from other orthopaedic meetings. Studies with large sample sizes should continue to be encouraged, and high quality presentations must consistently be followed up with full-text manuscript preparation in order to maximize the future clinical impact

Hydrogen peroxide and lime based oxidative pretreatment of wood waste to enhance enzymatic hydrolysis for a biorefinery: Process parameters optimization using response surface methodology

Response surface methodology (RSM) was adopted for the optimization of process variables in the alkaline peroxide oxidation (APO) pretreatment of Vitellaria paradoxa sawdust based on central composite design (CCD) experiments. A 23 five level CCD with central and axial points was used to develop a statistical model for the optimization of process variables. Maximum response for the pretreatment was obtained when applying the optimum values for temperature (150 �C), time (45 min), and 1% (v/v) H2O2. At the optimum conditions, up to 70% of the initial hemicellulose was removed in treatments, which also caused some delignification (up to 11% of the initial lignin was removed), whereas cellulose was almost quantitatively retained in the solid phase. Alkaline peroxide assisted wet air oxidation (APAWAO) pretreatment at the optimum conditions resulted in enrichment up to 60% cellulose content along with solubilization of 80% hemicellulose and 17% of lignin initially present in the raw sawdust. Reducing sugars yield after 72 h enzymatic hydrolysis of pretreated biomass at optimized APO conditions was 177.89 mg equivalent glucose g�1 dry biomass. Addition of 10 bar air pressure at the optimized pretreatment conditions increased the sugars yield to 263.49 mg equivalent glucose g�1 dry biomass