Contractor’s Technology Acceptance for Firm Sustainability Performance

The construction industry’s contributions to Greenhouse gas emissions have generated several discussions among the construction stakeholders in recent times. Granted that the construction industry has been contributing significantly to the economy as well as employment in most countries for decades, the industry’s resource consumption is, at the same time, damaging to a sustained human environment. This paper empirically explored the organizational technology orientation and perceived organizational usefulness that could improve construction Malaysian construction firm’s sustainability performance. Close-ended structured copies of questionnaire survey were employed to collect data from large Malaysian construction firms, and Partial Least Squares-Structural Equation Modeling technique was used to analyze the 172 responses. The results indicated that both technology orientation and perceived organizational usefulness are capable of influencing the construction firms’ sustainability performance. The implication is that this study’s model can predict the sustainability performance of the sampled construction firms. Some implications for research and practice, as well as future recommendations, were highlighted

Bioconversion of degraded husked sorghum grains to ethanol

Efficient starch saccharification is an essential step towards achieving improved ethanol yields by fermentation. Sorghum grains are important starch sources for bioconversion to ethanol. In the present study, disease degraded (spoilt) husked grains from Nigerian sorghum cultivars were obtained from field sites and subjected to bioprocessing to ethanol. The crude husked grains (comprising husks, spikelet, awn, rachis and pubescence materials) were hammer milled and each meal separately mashed with enzyme cocktails comprising amylase, glucanase and protease enzymes. The saccharified worts obtained were then fermented with the yeasts, Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Pichia stipitis (aka Scheffersomyces stipitis), without exogenous nutrient supplementation. Sugars liberated during mashing were determined and it was found that enzymatic hydrolysis of milled sorghum grains was effective in yielding favourable levels of fermentable sugars up to 70g sugar/100g substrate with one particular cultivar (KSV8). Ethanol and carbon dioxide production was measured from subsequent trial fermentations of the sorghum mash and it was found that S. cerevisiae produced ethanol levels equating to 420 L/t that compares very favourably with yields from wheat and barley. Our findings show that crude degraded sorghum grains represent favourable low-cost feedstocks for bioconversion to ethanol with reduced energy input and without additional costs for nutrient supplementation during fermentation. Consequently, our results suggest some economic benefits could be derived from spoilt or degraded sorghum grains

Examining technology readiness constructs: A validation study

This study validates technology readiness (TR) constructs in the context of public sector higher education institutions (HEIs) of Sultanate of Oman.Using a structured self ministered questionnaire, the data was duly collected from three hundred and thirty four educationists ranking from assistant lecturers to full professors.While employing PLS-SEM technique, the data was analyzed using Smart-PLS 2.0 M3 software. Results of this study revealed that all the dimensions of technology readiness namely; optimism, innovativeness, discomfort and insecurity were highly relevant.It also established an adequate level of internal consistency reliability, convergent validity and discriminant validity for each of the constructs of the technology readiness. Based on the results, it is suggested that the TR instrument could be useful for measuring all the constructs of technology readiness to study consumers’ tendency to adopt innovations or to accept the latest technologies

Consensus Summit: Lipids and Cardiovascular Health in the Nigerian Population

Aims: To issue a consensus statement on Lipids and Cardiovascular Health and the impact of their interrelationship in Nigerian Population. Study Design: Experts from a range of relevant disciplines, deliberated on different aspects of Lipids and Cardiovascular Health in the Nigerian Population at a Summit. Place and Duration of Study: The Summit was held in April 2016 at the Nigerian Institute of Medical Research. Methodology: Presentations were made on central themes after which expert participants split into four different groups to consider the questions relevant to different sub themes of the title. Consensus was arrived at, from presentations of groups at plenary. Conclusion: With the increase in the prevalence of NCDs, especially Cardiovascular Disease in Nigeria, and the documented evidence of deleterious effects of lipids, the expert panel called for an urgent need to advocate for the general public and health professionals to make heart-friendly choices in food consumption

Establishment of Reference Values of CD4 and CD8 Lymphocyte Subsets in Healthy Nigerian Adults▿

A total of 2,570 apparently healthy human immunodeficiency virus-negative adults from the six geopolitical zones in the country were enrolled in our study in 2006. The samples were assayed using the Cyflow technique. Data were analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Scientists (SPSS). The majority (64%) of the participants had CD4 counts within the range of 501 to 1,000 cells/μl. The reference range for CD4 was 365 to 1,571 cells/μl, while the reference range for CD8 was 145 to 884 cells/μl