Comparative Review of the Magnitude of Transaction Costs in Construction Procurement Projects between Developed and Developing Countries

Contracting business in public sector within various counties has a transaction cost to incur. This paper reviews transaction costs magnitude of developed and developing countries using standard sampling and procedure by analyzing data from four (4) developed countries; United States of America, United Kingdom, Newzealand, and Czech Republic and two (2) developing countries in Africa; Ghana and Nigeria. According to thefindings Newzealand have the highest TCs magnitude among all countries compared of about 16.5% averagely and with Czech Republic with 0.13% minimum that are incurred by stakeholders when bidding public sector construction projects. This is an important comparison and strengthens the assumption that there is a significant link between transaction costs incurred in bidding and public sector procurement, and that reducing such costs must be important for the contracting firms of various countries. Keywords: Construction, Comparison, Magnitude, Procurement, Transaction Cost

Corrosion study of pipeline material for seabed sediment in tropical climate

Corrosive environments such as marine sediments can cause corrosion to steel pipelines at any time when certain conditions are met. Seabed sediment could cause severe corrosion damage due to its corrosiveness to the pipelines buried under it. Many consequences could take place in case if there is incident in oil/gas pipelines. Successfully identifying elements of corrosion in marine sediment would enhance the future of steel structure protection and monitoring systems. This article focuses on the behaviour of corrosion rate of steel located near shore environment and the aim is to determine the effect of sediment on corrosion of steel. To investigate that, simulated near shore sediment conditions have been used where the steel coupons buried in sediments which have different characteristics. Weight loss technique has been implemented to determine the weight loss rate of the steel specimens. Based on the results of this study, metal weight loss increases as the duration of exposure to seabed sediment environment become longer. The sea sediment simulated condition has given significant levels of corrosion. Conclusively, the corrosion rate of steel in seabed sediment located in tropical region is complicated and further studies are suggested

Analytical study of flexible stimulation waveforms in muscle fatigue reduction

This paper presents the analytical study of flexible stimulation waveforms in muscle fatigue reduction for functional electrical stimulator (FES)-assisted hemiplegic muscle activities. The major challenge of muscle contraction induced by FES is early muscle fatigue which greatly limits activities such as FES-assisted standing and walking. The fixed stimulation pattern applied on a same motor unit has resulted the motor unit to be overworked and fatigue easily. Therefore, in this work, the stimulus parameters, which include the pulse width duration and the frequency were varied to create a few flexible stimulation waveforms using MATLAB/Simulink. The pulse width duration was modulated from 100µs – 500µs to generate five types of flexible stimulation waveforms such as Rectangular, Trapezoidal, Ramp Up, Ramp Down and Triangular. Concurrently, a few ranges of stimulus frequency were also used, which include 20Hz, 30Hz and 50Hz. The generated flexible stimulation waveforms were applied onto a humanoid muscle model to investigate and analyse the muscle output response and early muscle fatigue reduction. From the conducted simulation results and analyses, it was observed that flexible stimulation waveforms such as Triangular, Ramp Up and Ramp Down could reduce early muscle fatigue phenomenon by having lower average of negative slope, in the range of 0.012 to 0.013 for the muscle fitness. In contrast, the Rectangular and Trapezoidal shapes were found to have higher negative slope of muscle fitness in the range of 0.028 to 0.031. The Ramp Down shape was found to have the lowest average of negative slope (0.012) while Rectangular was found to have the highest average of negative slope (0.031). Therefore, it can be concluded that flexible stimulation waveforms such Ramp Down, Ramp Up and Triangular shapes could reduce early muscle fatigue phenomenon with Ramp Down shape having the highest muscle fatigue reduction

Intercalation of Anthraquinone-2-Sulphonate into Magnesium- Aluminum Layered Double Hydroxide and its Calcined Products by Ion Exchange and Memory Effect Properties

Layered double hydroxide of Mg-Al-nitrate system (LDH) was prepared and its heat-treated products (LDHTs) were obtained by calcining the LDH at 250-750 °C, for 5 hours at atmospheric condition. The LDH and the LDHTs were used as an inorganic host for the intercalation of AQ2 via ion exchange or memory effect property by exposing the LDH and LDHTs in aqueous solution containing an anion, anthraquinone-2-sulfonate (AQ2) for the formation of an organic-inorganic layered nanohybrid materials. X-ray diffractograms showed that the layered structure of LDH collapsed when it was heated at around 350 °C, and an oxide phase, MgAl2O4 appeared. Due to the memory effect property, the regeneration of LDH from LDHT was observed and at the same time the AQ2 was intercalated when LDHT was treated with the aqueous solution containing AQ2. As a result, formation of an organic-inorganic layered nanohybrid material was also observed. Similarly, the same material can be formed by ion exchange of LDH with AQ2. The basal spacing of LDH was found expanded from 8.1 Å to around 20 Å in the resulting nanohybrid. This is to accommodate a bigger size of the AQ2 moiety with specific orientation inside the interlamella of the inorganic layered structure that warrants the layer expansion. Incomplete intercalation and ion exchange process resulted in a mixed LDH and a nanohybrid phase as observed in the PXRD pattern of the resulting material

Model kesediaan pelaksanaan sistem kawalan industri di persekitaran awan dari perspektif keselamatan maklumat

Persekitaran awan adalah satu bidang yang pesat berkembang dengan keupayaan mengakses perkhidmatan dari mana sahaja dan pada bila-bila masa. Sistem Kawalan Industri atau ICS adalah istilah umum untuk sistem kawalan yang digunakan di dalam infrastruktur kritikal. Apabila ICS dilaksanakan di persekitaran awan, keselamatan maklumat menjadi satu kebimbangan utama bagi organisasi ICS. Sebelum melaksanakan ICS ke awan, penting bagi organisasi ICS untuk bersedia kerana kurang kesediaan boleh membawa kepada kegagalan dalam pelaksanaannya. Oleh itu objektif utama kajian ini adalah untuk mencadangkan Model Kesediaan Pelaksanaan ICS di persekitaran awan (RMfIC) dari perspektif keselamatan maklumat. RMfIC terdiri daripada tiga komponen utama iaitu komponen pertama ialah analisis kesesuaian, komponen kedua, mengukur kesediaan dari perspektif keselamatan maklumat, dan komponen ketiga ialah pengiraan kesediaan organisasi ICS yang juga akan mengenal pasti tahap kesediaan sesebuah organisasi. Sumbangan utama RMfIC adalah organisasi ICS boleh mengenal pasti tahap kesediaan dan menangani cabaran sebelum melaksanakan perkhidamatan ICS di persekitaran awan

Corrosion behaviour of Al-Si cast alloy reinforced with titanium diboride (TiB2) and scandium (Sc)

The aluminium-silicon (Al-Si) based on Metal Matrix Composites (MMCs) is widely used in lightweight constructions and transport applications requiring a combination of high strength and ductility. A grain refinement plays a crucial role in improving characteristics and properties of Al alloys. In this investigation, titanium diboride (TiB2) and scandium (Sc) inoculants were added to the Al-Si alloys for grain refinement of an alloy. In this investigation, the corrosion resistance rate of Al-Si cast alloy reinforced by TiB2 and Sc were measured by potentiostat (AUTOLAB) instrument. The aim of this research is to investigate the corrosion rate for Al-Si-TiB2-Sc composites that immersed in different concentration of acidic solutions. Besides, the immersion time of acidic solutions also was investigated. All the samples were prepared accordingly for ASTM standard by the composition of 6.0 wt% TiB2 and 0.6wt% Sc. All the samples undergo cold mounting technique for easy handling on corrosion tests. Then the samples were immersed in two different concentrations acidic medium solutions, which were 0.1.and 1.0 M hydrochloric acids (HCl). The corrosion rate also was investigated for immersion samples of 1.0 M HCl for 21 days. From the results obtained, added TiB2 and Sc onto Al-Si alloy gave the better properties in corrosion resistance. Corrosion rates to reduce when the samples were immersed in a lower concentration of acidic medium, 0.1 HCl. However, there are some significant on the result but it still following the corrosion rates trend. Thus, improvements to reinforcement content need to be done in further research to cover the lack of this corrosion rates trend

Review of mobile learning trends 2010-2015: a meta-analysis

This study examined the longitudinal trends of mobile learning (M-Learning) research using text mining techniques in a more comprehensive manner. One hundred and forty four (144) refereed journal articles were retrieved and analyzed from the Social Science Citation Index database selected from top six major educational technology-based learning journals based on Google Scholar metrics in the period from January, 2010 to December, 2015. Content analysis was implemented for further analysis based on (a) category of research purpose, (b) learning domain, (c) sample group, (d) device used, (e) research design, (f) educational contexts (i.e., formal learning and informal learning), (g) learning outcome (i.e., positive, negative and neutral), (h) periodic journal, (i) country, and (j) publisher. This review study of M-Learning presents findings, which can become a layover platform and guidance for researcher, educators, policy maker or even journal publisher for future research or reference in the realm of M-Learning regarding the latest trends

Investigation of the osteometry of the skull of the one-humped camels. Part II: sex dimorphism and geographical variations in adults

Sexual dimorphism in the skull of different species has been of importance in archaeological, forensic and anatomical studies; also, a variation in phenotypic and genetic traits across geographic space is a recurring phenomenon in biological species. This study investigated 10 adult camels from each of three geographical locations in northern Nigeria, for sex- and location-based variations in the skulls. In one location, male skulls had greater absolute osteometric values but there were no significance differences in relative proportions between sexes. Moreover, all index values (skull, cranial and facial) indicate no sexual dimorphism in all locations. There were some variations in the osteometry of the frontal region, and neurocranial volume between the locations. In addition it was observed that the skull index of Nigerian camels was similar to the Malha type documented in literature but wide variations exist in many other craniometric dimensions of the skull. This suggests a definite difference in phenotype and probable origin

Osteometry of the skull of one-humped camels. Part I: immature animals

The aim of this study was to investigate osteometric indices of immature camels (2-3 years old) in Nigeria. The cranial length, viscerocranial length, maximum zygomatic width, neurocranial volume, skull and facial index for females and males were 22.1 cm and 22.3 cm; 16.3 cm and 16.7 cm; 15.8 cm and 16.1 cm; 479 ml and 496 ml; 40.9 and 41.3, and 96.4 and 96.2 respectively. The mean orbital horizontal and vertical diameters of young camels were similar to each other giving a near complete circular shape. The foramen magnum index was over 100 because of a relatively higher height than width. The data were compared with those of other types of immature camels in the literature and will be useful for anatomical, developmental, anthropological and clinical studies of camels

RECHALLENGING TREATMENT PLAN FOR MULTIDRUG-RESISTANT TUBERCULOSIS IN DIABETIC PATIENT: A CASE REPORT

Multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) currently considers as the biggest issue and its subcategory, rifampicin-resistant TB (RR-TB). MDR-TB is defined as a resistant to isoniazid (H) and rifampicin (R), while the latter is resistant to rifampicin (R) only. Poorly controlled diabetes mellitus increases the risk of TB and leads to poor TB treatment outcomes as well it is consider potentially threating TB control. Difference in patients’ response and side effect developments toward anti-TB (ATB) medications requires rechallenging procedure that can be complicated at times. The management of MDR-TB can be complicated, especially, when the patient cannot tolerate the short regimen. Difference in patients’ response and side effect developments toward ATB medications requires rechallenging procedure which can have prolonged treatment time, hospital stay, and make patients exposed to hospital-acquired infection. This challenges and obstacles, however, could be prevented earlier by having strong DOTS strategy to prevent the development of resistance and reactivation of TB