Investigating public sector client performance in South African construction procurement

A thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Building to the Faculty of Engineering and Built Environment, University of the Witwatersrand , Johannesburg, 2017This study proceeds from the premise that the dissatisfaction of the clients with the outcomes of the construction projects stems from their objectives not being met by the industry. The study aimed at investigating public sector clients’ performance in the South African construction procurement with a view to establishing how their efficiency and effectiveness could be improved during procurement processes. The specific research objectives are to: identify the key performance indicators (KPIs) for public sector clients in their procurement process; assess and analyse the weaknesses and strengths associated with public sector clients’ performance in the construction procurement process; develop a methodical approach to the measurement of public sector clients’ performance in their procurement processes; and recommend implementable approaches to improving client performance in the public sector procurement process. A qualitative and quantitative mixed method research design was adopted in carrying out the study. This involved the use of interviews and structured questionnaire survey. Data were collected from National and Provincial Departments of Public Works as public sector client representatives in South Africa. Based on the analysis of the organogram, a total of six functional units involved in the procurement process were identified and targeted for the purpose of data collection. The purposive sampling technique was adopted for the study. These are Heads of Departments, Deputy Directors General responsible for construction projects, Chief financial officers, Heads of supply chain management, Heads of human resources management, and senior project managers. Information collected included issues leading to uncovering of public sector key performance indicators (KPIs) and strengths and weaknesses associated with public sector clients’ performance. Data collected were analysed using content analysis to determine the themes and constructs leading to the identification of public key performance indicators. Further analysis was carried out using mean ranking analysis of factors associated with the strengths and weaknesses associated with public sector clients’ performance. The results of the research show project delivery process as good, not excellent; no detailed template for clarifying project briefs; legislative and administrative procedures lead to time and cost overruns; lack of adequate capabilities within in-house trained professionals and technical expertise to supervise all projects, insufficient in-house professionals to be represented on each project site; lack of mechanism to monitor in-house professionals’ participation on project sites; low participation of end users’ agents due to high incapacitation of User Department organisation; DPW are highly incapacitated because of lack of standard documentations; lack of professional training and short courses to enhance the skills and expertise of technical professionals. Other results show that delayed/late payment to contractors and end user agents due to cash flow challenges; weak or neglect of project monitoring and supervision; disputes between project managers and consultants as a result of quality of work done by contractors; bureaucratic bottlenecks and long decision making processes; design changes and variation due to contingent events, unforeseen circumstances due to weather, earthworks, disasters, changes in User Department briefs and challenges due to administration and political issues. The findings could also be drawn from challenges in descending order of importance from the human resources management units, the financial management units, the supply chain management units, project management units, decision making processes, planning units, design, briefing, documentation and policy issues. The study concluded that 137 public sector key performance indicators are identifiable for assessing public sector client performance in South African procurement. It also concluded that out of several challenges, the human resources, financial management, supply chain management, and project management challenges are the most severe challenges that beset the National and Provincial Department of Public Works, while the documentation and policy issues are less severe. Implementable recommendations were made to specific user departments. The human resources management units in the South African National and Provincial Departments of Public Works should adopt the recommendation suggested in this study to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of professionals during their project delivery process.XL201

Pulmonary lesions associated with intratracheal Benzo(a)pyrene instillation in Sprague Dawley rats

This study was conducted to assess acute exposure to very low dose of intratracheally instilled Benzo(a)pyrene (BaP) on the lungs of rats. A total of 30 rats were utilized in this study and they were randomly divided into 6 groups. The control group (G1) did not receive any treatment, whereas the rats in the remaining 5 groups were administered with 13.8 ng of BaP, which were then sacrificed at 1 hour (G2), 8 hours (G3), 16 hours (G4), 32 hours (G5), and 72 hours (G6) of post-instillation (p.i.). Morphological appearances of all the lungs of all the treated rats consisted of various degrees of congestion, mostly evident in G3 and early development of emphysema, as seen in G4. These worsened as time progressed as observed in G6. On the other hand, the histological findings of the lungs of the treated rats revealed that the lungs had underwent some changes that were characterized by progressive alveolar congestion, epithelialisation with emphysema and accompanied by infiltration of inflammatory cells predominantly with alveolar macrophages and some neutrophils. However, even with such lesions seen, there was no apparent manifestation of impairment of the pulmonary system

Pathological changes in the lungs of calves following intratracheal exposure to Pasteurella multocida B:2

Pasteurella multocida B:2 is an etiological agent of hemorrhagic septicemia in cattle and buffaloes. It is commonly fatal and considered as one of the most economically important cattle diseases in Southeast Asia. This study describes the pathological changes in the lungs of calves following intra-tracheal challenge with wild-type P. multocida B:2. For this purpose, six calves of 8-month old were selected and divided into two groups of 3 calves. Calves of Group 1 were challenged with intra-tracheal 5 ml inoculum containing 109 cfu/ml of wild-type P. multocida B:2, while the calves of Group 2 were similarly administered with PBS. All the challenged calves of Group 1 showed slight dullness and were found to be inactive within 72 hours after inoculation, but none died. Meanwhile, their lungs showed petechiations and patches of acute pneumonia affecting few lobules. Histological examinations revealed the presence of haemorrhages into the alveoli, whereas some sections showed thickened inter-alveolar septa due to congestion and the presence of neutrophils. However, pulmonary oedema was absent. P. multocida B:2 was successfully isolated from all the calves of Group 1

Towards anode with low indium content as effective anode in organic solar cells

In2O3 thin films (100 nm thick) have been deposited by reactive evaporation of indium, in an oxygen partial atmosphere. Conductive (σ = 3.5×103 S/cm) and transparent films are obtained using the following experimental conditions: oxygen partial pressure = 1×10−1 Pa, substrate temperature = 300 ◦C and deposition rate = 0.02 nm/s. Layers of this In2O3 thick of 5 nm have been introduced in AZO/In2O3 and FTO/In2O3 multilayer anode structures. The performances of organic photovoltaic cells, based on the couple CuPc/C60, are studied using the anode as parameter. In addition to these bilayers, other structures have been used as anode: AZO, FTO, AZO/In2O3/MoO3, FTO/In2O3/MoO3 and FTO/MoO3. It is shown that the use of the In2O3 film in the bilayer structures improves significantly the cell performances. However the open circuit voltage is quite small while better efficiencies are achieved when MoO3 is present. These results are discussed in the light of surface roughness and surface work function of the different anodes

The Relationship Between the Quantity of Money and Economic Growth in Algeria During the Period 1970-2019: An Econometric Study Using the Cointegration Methodology and the Error Correction Model (ECM)

حاولت الدراسة بحث دراسة العلاقة بين كمية النقود والناتج المحلي الإجمالي في الجزائر من خلال العمل على سلسلتين زمنيتين للفترة 1970-2019، باستخدام منهجية التكامل المشتركEngle-Grangerونموذج تصحيح الخطأ ECMبهدف اختبار وجود علاقة سببية بين المتغيرين وتحديد اتجاهها في الأجلين القصير والطويل، وقد توصلت الدراسة إلى وجود علاقة سببية في الاجل القصير من كمية النقود اتجاه الناتج المحلي الاجمالي، أما في يتعلق بالأجل الطويل فقد كانت السبية في الاتجاهين أي علاقة دائرية، وهو مايعبر عن حالة خاصة للجزائر تختلف عن النظرية التقليدية والمقاربةالكينزيةThe study focused on studying the relationship between the quantity of money and economic growth in Algeria by working on two time series for the period from 1970 until 2019, by using the Engle-Granger methodology and the error correction model ECM, with the aim of testing the existence of a causal relationship between the two variables and determining their direction in the short and long runs, thus the study concluded the existence of a causal relationship in the short run from the quantity of money towards the gross domestic product. Otherwise for the long run, the causation was in both directions, i.e. a circular relationship, which expresses a special case for Algeria that differs comparing with both the traditional theory and the Keynesian approac

Nigella sativa meal alleviates injury against benzo[a]pyrene exposures in broilers

This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of Nigella sativa (Ns) meal on such influences of Benzo[a] Pyrene (BaP) on the broilers performance, pulmonary index (PI), and histopathological changes. Chicks were assigned into four equal groups, namely as controls, Ns, BaP and BaP with Ns. Six birds were sacrificed at days 7, 14, 21, and 35. The results revealed that there were significant decreases (p<0.05) in the mean body weight (BW) values and body weight gain (BWG) in the BaP alone group. Pulmonary weight (PW) and index increased (p<0.05) in the same group compared to the control groups. Pulmonary morphology showed heavy infiltration and denudation of ciliated epithelium in the trachea, with infiltration by polymorphonuclear and mononuclear cells in the parabronchi of the lung, in the BaP exposed chickens. Nigella sativa (Ns) supplementation significantly alleviated these alterations, and thereby showing a potent anti-inflammatory effect after 14 days in the treated group. A key finding from this study is that BaP triggers inflammatory disorders and this transient effect is believed to be fatal if an infection occurs warranting a reassessment of the health status on exposure, and Ns was found to be helpful in alleviating such effects in broiler chickens

Light and scanning electron microscopy of the small intestine of young Malaysian village chicken and commercial broiler

The intestinal mucosa of the Malaysian village chicken (MVC) and commercial broiler breed (CBC) from day 1 to 20 post-hatch was examined by means of light and scanning electron microscopy. The results showed that the intestinal mucosa was highly developed on day 1 in CBC as compared to MVC in regard to villus height, crypt depth and thickness of tunica muscularis. At day 1 post-hatch, it was observed that the mid cecum of the CBC showed plicae with short villi, while very short villi without plicae were observed in MVC. The intestinal villi in both breeds had a finger-like shape at day-old chick and changed to plate-like and tongue-like shapes toward the end of the experiment for CBC and MVC, respectively. Unlike MVC, the surface epithelia of the intestinal villi in CBC exhibited cell activities represented by surface recesses, clear cell outline and dome-shaped cells with protuberances, while a marked corrugated surface and areas of discontinuities were dominantly seen on the intestinal villi of the MVC particularly on the ileal villi. This study revealed that the intestinal mucosa of MVC of newly hatched chick was less evolutionary as compared to CBC which showed earlier development and maturation with more active villi to provide the highest rate of absorption as the breed selected for high body weight and rapid growth rate

Activities of amylase, trypsin and chymotrypsin of pancreas and small intestinal contents in the red jungle fowl and broiler breed

The digestive enzyme activities of the pancreas and small intestinal segments were examined in two breeds of chickens that differ in growth rate over the period of 1-day (1-d) to 4-months (120-d) of age. The total body weight (BW) of the red jungle fowl (RJF) increased slowly during the experiment, in contrast to the commercial broiler chicken (CBC) which showed markedly increase (P < 0.05) over the same experiment. The pancreas weight (g/100 g BW) was greater (P < 0.05) in the RJF during the experiment, with the exception of 1-day old group. There was significantly higher (P < 0.05) pancreatic enzyme activity (unit/g) and (unit/100 g) BW for the CBC, particularly at 10-days. However, there were no differences between the breeds at (20 to 56 days) for amylase and (120 days) for chymotrypsin. The enzyme activity (unit/g) for all intestinal segments increased with age. The CBC attained a maximal value on 10 days for jejunal and ileal trypsin, and duodenal, jejunal and ileal chymotrypsin. Activities (unit/100 g BW) showed decrease with age for both breeds. The CBC had a relatively greater value (P < 0.05) at 1 day, except for the jejunal trypsin and the chymotrypsin. Thereafter, the relative activities were higher for the RJF until the end of the experiment. Although significant differences in the digestive enzyme activities were obtained between the two breeds, these differences were generally associated with differences in body weight. The effects of selection affected the development rate of the synthesis of these enzymes according to the body requirements and biological function and this may affect the digestion and finally the growth rate