Cost and return structure in sawmill industry in Ijebu Ode, Ogun state, Nigeria

The study focused on the cost and return structure in the timber industry in Ijebu Ode, Ogun State. The study made use of both the primary and secondary data. The instrument used for collecting the primary data was a set of structured questionnaire. A Multistage Sampling Technique was used in sample enumeration. Descriptive and inferential statistical methods were employed in analyzing the data in the study. The finding showed that 32.6% of the industries were retailers while 30.4% were wholesalers of timbers and both had regular supply of the products. The working capital among the timbers business was N3,641,905.6 and the average annual income was N1,682,064.2. The budgetary analysis revealed that the total annual profit for timber traders ranged between N1,273,103.63 and N2,394,341.77 for 2010 to 2014. . Government policy, high cost of transportation, inadequate credit facilities and high cost of energy and power were some of the constraints faced by timber industries in the study area. The use of modern equipment and machines are needed to replace the outdated equipment in order to increase the output and profit. The level of access to credit facilities should be improved upon by encouraging the respondent to form cooperative societies so that they can mobilize enough working capital for their business.KEY WORDS: Cost and return, Timber, Industry, Structure, Constrain

Sustainable development in a construction related curriculum- quantity surveying students’ perspective

Higher education institutions (HEIs) across the globe are increasingly aware of the need to integrate sustainability education within the curricula. This triggered a number of studies that were conducted by earlier researchers in embedding sustainability education within the curricula. Thus, studies have been carried out to evaluate how students perceived sustainable development in their curricula, particularly in engineering and other related courses. Few of these studies were conducted in built environment, most especially in quantity surveying. It is against this backdrop that necessitated this study. The purpose of this study is to establish the extent in which sustainable development is embedded in the construction related curriculum using the perception of quantity surveying students. The study adopted literature review, documentary reports among others as a secondary method of data collection. Primary data were collected through online questionnaire survey administered to 330 randomly selected quantity surveying students in a university in the UK. Out of which 87 completed questionnaires were retrieved and suitable for the analysis. The quantitative data obtained were analysed using mean score, one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and regression analysis. The study identified 46 sustainability topics, which were grouped into 6 categories (i.e. A-F). Based on these categories, the study found that students’ knowledge level on sustainability was a little above ‘basic/limited knowledge with the overall mean score value of 2.38 on a 4- point Likert scale. The study further revealed that the students placed high importance on sustainability education, despite their knowledge level were found lower. The study findings would be used to establish the extent of sustainability within the curriculum in the quantity surveying programme. Also, this study would be of great value to academic staff and University management boards to develop a framework for incorporating sustainability education in the curriculum

Assessment ofcommercial importance and determinant factors influencing collection of non timber forest products in adjoining communities of lanlate Forest Reserve of Oyo State, Nigeria

The study focused on the assessment of commercial importance and determinant factors influencing collection of non timber forest products in  adjoining communities of Lanlate. Purposive sampling was used to select four villages Alapa, Opo Ogede, Afayasoro, and Panlati which are closed to  the forest reserve with protected population of 640,290,540 and250 respectively. Furthermore Diaw et,al (2002)was used to select respondent for the study,113 questionnaire were administered out of which 106 were retrieved..Data collected were analyzed using descriptive statistics such as percentage and frequency distribution and inferential statistics. Majority of the respondents were within the age brackets of 42-60 years (30.2%) and mostly male (81.1%); 62.3% of the respondents had secondary education. Results further showed that81.2% of the respondents were married, 57.5% were engaged in farming as occupations and 53.8% had spent 10-20 years in the area. Non Timber Forest Products (NTFPs) collected in the area were34.9% of bush-meats, (45.3%) collected NTFPs between 3 - 5 days in a week and some of challenges faced were unattractive price, poor road network and inadequate credit accessibility. The study recommended that government should encourage development of participative programme involving local people for the evaluation of NTFPs resources for sustainable production, harvesting and use of NTFPs. Keywords: Assessment, Communities, Factors, Forest Reserve, NTFPs, Respondents

Life cycle carbon emissions and comparative evaluation of selected open source UK embodied carbon counting tools

Life cycle carbon emissions (LCO2), made up of operational and embodied carbon, have become a major metric of building environmental performance and energy efficiency. Whilst there are now standard methods for operational carbon assessment due to its significance in LCO2, there is still less emphasis on embodied carbon counting. However, the relative contribution of embodied carbon is on the rise as buildings become increasingly energy efficient. Following the rule that only something which is measurable is manageable, it is essential that we are able to accurately count embodied carbon. This study therefore reviews the concept of LCO2 in buildings and further investigates the open source UK tools for embodied carbon counting. A comparative evaluation case study, which validates an earlier review, showed that there is no logic and consistency in the carbon figures produced by embodied carbon counting tools. This is mainly due to different system boundaries, varying underlying assumptions and methodological differences in calculation. The findings suggest that an industry-agreed data structure and common methodology is needed for embodied carbon counting. Generally, the study provides insights into the use and capabilities of the identified open source UK embodied carbon counting tools, and is relevant to the on-going debate about carbon regulation

Review of Correlation of Quantity Surveyors’ Education in Nigeria to Skill Requirements for Administration of Civil Engineering Projects

Whereas quantity surveyors are adequately engaged in engineering projects in Great Britain from where quantity surveying education in Nigeria derived its source and model, their involvement seems sub-optimum in Nigeria, attributably to perception of the correlation of quantity surveyors’ education to engineering projects’ requirements. This study examined the course curriculum and contents for quantity surveying at both the degree and higher diploma levels with the view to investigating the proportion of education and training of quantity surveyors in the Nigerian education system at undergraduate level that correlate to the skill requirements of the administration of civil engineering projects. The study identified the administration of civil engineering projects under 3 main headings viz: Design, Construction, and Cost appraisal. The study reveals a good correlation of the education and training of quantity surveyors to the skill requirement for providing services requiring measurement of civil engineering works as well as services requiring evaluation of civil engineering works and financial management. The study also revealed 51.2% and 52.2% proportion of the curriculum and course content of University and Polytechnic respectively as focusing directly on the requirement of cost appraisal and administration of the financial aspects of civil engineering and other engineering projects. Keywords: correlation, education, skill requirement, administration, and civil engineering, quantity surveyin

Stakeholder perceptions of drivers for, and barriers to, the incorporation of sustainability in PPP infrastructure projects in Nigeria

Purpose - Although several studies have been undertaken on sustainability within infrastructure projects, limited attention has paid to the drivers for, and the barriers to, the incorporation of sustainability in public-private partnership (PPP) infrastructure projects through empirical study, particularly in Nigeria. Therefore, this study identified and examined the drivers that promote sustainability in Nigerian PPP infrastructure projects, and assessed the barriers to the full integration of sustainability practices into current Nigerian PPP infrastructure projects. Design/methodology/approach – Primary data were collected using a questionnaire survey. The questionnaire survey was targeted on four different stakeholders’ organizations. They were public sector authorities, concessionaires, consultants, and banks already undertaking PPP infrastructure projects in Lagos State, Nigeria. The obtained data were analysed using frequency, percentage, mean score, standard deviation, and the Kruskal-Wallis test. Findings – The study identified 17 drivers that promote the incorporation of sustainability in PPP infrastructure projects. The analysis of the total ranking of the drivers in Nigeria revealed the top five ranked drivers to be: consideration of long-term performance; contractual arrangements; incentives for new market penetration; award criteria, and selection criteria, respectively. The study further identified 11 barriers to sustainability integration in PPP infrastructure projects and the top five ranked barriers in Nigeria are: comprehensive sustainability procurement guidelines; no enabling environment; education needs; uncertain economic environment, and a lack of clear government policy, respectively. The results of the Kruskal-Wallis test conducted on both the 17 identified drivers for, and the 11 barriers to, the incorporation of sustainability in Nigerian PPP infrastructure projects, revealed that there is no significant statistical difference in both rankings from the perceptions of the aforementioned four different respondents’ groups. Practical implications – The study provides empirical insights on the knowledge and awareness of drivers which could lead to a greater uptake in sustainability measures by the stakeholders in Nigerian PPP projects; it also identified barriers to overcome. Originality/value – The importance of the incorporation of sustainability in public procurement cannot be over-emphasized. It is anticipated that the study will be of great value to PPP stakeholders involved in sustainability decision-making processes when delivering sustainable PPP projects

Assessing the low-cost buildings in Nigeria using Hydraform blocks as walling materials: the journey so far

Man’s growing desire for affordable and comfortable buildings have necessitated the diversification of materials and methods in the built sector. Thus, this paper assessed the hydraform blocks as walling materials to examine its current level of usage in the Nigerian built sector. Information was generated via literature reviews, newspapers, and professional perceptions. The findings revealed that despite the concerted feats of private developers in the use of hydraform blocks as walling materials for the low-cost building construction in Nigeria, efforts by the Federal Government has yielded limited success in this regard. Also, State Governments have not fared better. Therefore, this paper recommended and proffered solutions to bridge this gap

Tocilizumab in patients admitted to hospital with COVID-19 (RECOVERY): a randomised, controlled, open-label, platform trial

Background: In this study, we aimed to evaluate the effects of tocilizumab in adult patients admitted to hospital with COVID-19 with both hypoxia and systemic inflammation. Methods: This randomised, controlled, open-label, platform trial (Randomised Evaluation of COVID-19 Therapy [RECOVERY]), is assessing several possible treatments in patients hospitalised with COVID-19 in the UK. Those trial participants with hypoxia (oxygen saturation <92% on air or requiring oxygen therapy) and evidence of systemic inflammation (C-reactive protein ≥75 mg/L) were eligible for random assignment in a 1:1 ratio to usual standard of care alone versus usual standard of care plus tocilizumab at a dose of 400 mg–800 mg (depending on weight) given intravenously. A second dose could be given 12–24 h later if the patient's condition had not improved. The primary outcome was 28-day mortality, assessed in the intention-to-treat population. The trial is registered with ISRCTN (50189673) and ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT04381936). Findings: Between April 23, 2020, and Jan 24, 2021, 4116 adults of 21 550 patients enrolled into the RECOVERY trial were included in the assessment of tocilizumab, including 3385 (82%) patients receiving systemic corticosteroids. Overall, 621 (31%) of the 2022 patients allocated tocilizumab and 729 (35%) of the 2094 patients allocated to usual care died within 28 days (rate ratio 0·85; 95% CI 0·76–0·94; p=0·0028). Consistent results were seen in all prespecified subgroups of patients, including those receiving systemic corticosteroids. Patients allocated to tocilizumab were more likely to be discharged from hospital within 28 days (57% vs 50%; rate ratio 1·22; 1·12–1·33; p<0·0001). Among those not receiving invasive mechanical ventilation at baseline, patients allocated tocilizumab were less likely to reach the composite endpoint of invasive mechanical ventilation or death (35% vs 42%; risk ratio 0·84; 95% CI 0·77–0·92; p<0·0001). Interpretation: In hospitalised COVID-19 patients with hypoxia and systemic inflammation, tocilizumab improved survival and other clinical outcomes. These benefits were seen regardless of the amount of respiratory support and were additional to the benefits of systemic corticosteroids. Funding: UK Research and Innovation (Medical Research Council) and National Institute of Health Research

Convalescent plasma in patients admitted to hospital with COVID-19 (RECOVERY): a randomised controlled, open-label, platform trial

Background: Many patients with COVID-19 have been treated with plasma containing anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies. We aimed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of convalescent plasma therapy in patients admitted to hospital with COVID-19. Methods: This randomised, controlled, open-label, platform trial (Randomised Evaluation of COVID-19 Therapy [RECOVERY]) is assessing several possible treatments in patients hospitalised with COVID-19 in the UK. The trial is underway at 177 NHS hospitals from across the UK. Eligible and consenting patients were randomly assigned (1:1) to receive either usual care alone (usual care group) or usual care plus high-titre convalescent plasma (convalescent plasma group). The primary outcome was 28-day mortality, analysed on an intention-to-treat basis. The trial is registered with ISRCTN, 50189673, and ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT04381936. Findings: Between May 28, 2020, and Jan 15, 2021, 11558 (71%) of 16287 patients enrolled in RECOVERY were eligible to receive convalescent plasma and were assigned to either the convalescent plasma group or the usual care group. There was no significant difference in 28-day mortality between the two groups: 1399 (24%) of 5795 patients in the convalescent plasma group and 1408 (24%) of 5763 patients in the usual care group died within 28 days (rate ratio 1·00, 95% CI 0·93–1·07; p=0·95). The 28-day mortality rate ratio was similar in all prespecified subgroups of patients, including in those patients without detectable SARS-CoV-2 antibodies at randomisation. Allocation to convalescent plasma had no significant effect on the proportion of patients discharged from hospital within 28 days (3832 [66%] patients in the convalescent plasma group vs 3822 [66%] patients in the usual care group; rate ratio 0·99, 95% CI 0·94–1·03; p=0·57). Among those not on invasive mechanical ventilation at randomisation, there was no significant difference in the proportion of patients meeting the composite endpoint of progression to invasive mechanical ventilation or death (1568 [29%] of 5493 patients in the convalescent plasma group vs 1568 [29%] of 5448 patients in the usual care group; rate ratio 0·99, 95% CI 0·93–1·05; p=0·79). Interpretation: In patients hospitalised with COVID-19, high-titre convalescent plasma did not improve survival or other prespecified clinical outcomes. Funding: UK Research and Innovation (Medical Research Council) and National Institute of Health Research

Gender recognition using local binary pattern and Naive Bayes Classifier

Human face provides important visual information for gender perception. Ability to recognize a particular gender is very important for the purpose of differentiation. Automatic gender classification has many important applications, for example, intelligent user interface, surveillance, identity authentication, access control and human-computer interaction amongst others. Gender recognition is a fundamental task for human beings, as many social functions critically depend on the correct gender perception. Consequently, real-world applications require gender classification on real-life faces, which is much more challenging due to significant appearance variations in unconstrained scenarios. In this study, Local Binary Pattern is used to detect the occurrence of a face in a given image by reading the texture change within the regions of the image, while Naive Bayes Classifier was used for the gender classification. From the results obtained, the gender correlation was 100% and the highest accuracy of the result obtained was 99%.The system can be employed for use in scenarios where real time gender recognition is required.Keywords: Gender, Local Binary Pattern, Naïve Bayes, Recognitio