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Evaluation of Socially Responsible Practices for Preventing Housing Project Challenges in Abuja, Nigeria
No full textPurpose - Housing represents one of the most basic needs of man therefore considering the number of deficit housing units which stands at over 23 million, the need increase supply becomes most imperative. To ensure effective and efficient delivery of housing, socially responsible practices can be employed in housing production to prevent challenges, hence the purpose of the study was to explore socially responsible practices adopted by construction firms for preventing challenges in housing projects, which will consequently enhance housing production.
Design/methodology/approach - The study adopted the descriptive research design, quantitative design method, case study research strategy and cross-sectional time horizon. The study collated variables and afterwards sampled opinions of construction professionals’, ‘as respondents’ in four construction firms in Abuja, Nigeria, so as to provide information on application of socially responsible practices in housing projects. The data analysis tools adopted were Mean Rating and Kruskal Wallis Test. A part of the 138 professionals sampled, ranked these practices afterwards.
Findings - The study revealed the five key practices in preventing housing project challenges to be: generating profit; managing projects within the confines of the law; ensuring an environmentally friendly project; community service/development and payment of taxes when due.
Research Limitations – The research limitations were three-fold being: difficulty in gaining access into some large construction firms for data collection; the inability to view some vital documents which would have provided more insight into CSR practices in the case studies, as the documents were termed ‘classified’; and the difficulty in interfacing with respondents as the research was conducted during the COVID 19 pandemic which had financial and time implications.
Theoretical/Social/Practical implications – The findings of the study further indicate that socially responsible practices are multiple and vary from one project phase to another. Inability to effectively utilize these practices in a housing project life cycle suggests cost and time implications which can derail or lead to project abandonment. Construction participants need to effectively and efficiently integrate these practices in housing project execution to ensure stakeholder and shareholder satisfaction.
Originality/value - More than ever, there is need to distinctly categorize socially responsible practices into economic, legal, ethical and philanthropic responsibility respectively in housing project service delivery and consider project peculiarities while adopting these practices. Furthermore, applying these practices constructively and logically suggests great potentials in preventing housing project challenges. 
Assessment of Socioeconomic Characteristics of Peri-Urban Residents in Ibadan, Nigeria
No full textPurpose - Peri-urban areas are crucial transitional zones where urban and rural structures intersect, often leading to unique challenges and opportunities for residents. This study explores the assessment of socioeconomic characteristics of peri-urban residents in Ibadan, Nigeria. It identified key socioeconomic factors influencing the lives of peri-urban residents and understood the dynamics of socio-economic development in these areas.
Research Approach - Using a mixed-methods approach, this research gathered comprehensive data on the demographic profile, age, gender, income, education levels, employment status, and housing conditions of the respondents.
Findings - The findings show a gender distribution of 6:4 male and female residents while their marital status reveal about 68% married in the study areas. The age distribution gives a mean age of 46years, 18 and 82 years as minimum and maximum respectively. On occupation, 41% are engaged in business, 33.5% civil servants, and 9% are technocrats. Ownership status showed about 68.5% owns their houses.
Research Limitation - The sampled communities comprising Eleyele 70, Adetokun 148, Alafara 86 and Ologuneru 42, totaling 346 questionnaires out of which 325 was retrieved leaving behind 21. This gives a 94% recovery. Notwithstanding, most vulnerable or marginalised population may have been inadvertently excluded.
Practical Implications - The study has implications for urban planning, social policy, and community development initiatives in the areas. Additionally, it would help policymakers and stakeholders develop more sustainable and inclusive strategies for urban growth and development.
Originality - The study provides valuable insights for fostering more equitable and sustainable development and enhancing the overall quality of life for their residents
Residents' Perception of Physical Planning Regulations in Three Secondary Cities in Nigeria (A Study of Osogbo, Ile-Ife, and Iwo)
No full textThis paper assessed residents' perception of physical planning regulations with a focus on three major cities (Osogbo, Ile-Ife, and Iwo) in Osun State. Resident's perception was determined by level of awareness of physical planning regulations and experience with administrative practices in the enforcement of physical planning regulations in the study area. For data collection, each of the cities was stratified into three developmental zones, with satellite imageries of built-up areas in each city being subjected to Fishnet analysis in a GIS environment. An average of one house was randomly selected from 2 an area of 0.6 km . Thus, 108, 62 and 56 houses were selected in Osogbo, Ife and Iwo respectively and one resident was sampled in each of the selected houses to arrive at the sample size of 226 residents, to whom copies of the questionnaire were administered. Findings revealed that residents were not quite aware of physical planning regulations in each study area and that those with some knowledge of such regulations acquired it in the course of interacting with planning agencies. It was also found that administrative practices on the enforcement of physical planning regulations were not quite effective. Therefore, it is recommended that physical planning agencies should aim for more effectiveness in raising public awareness on physical planning regulations while improving their own administrative practices
Application of Diffusion Magnetic Resonance Imaging Equation to Compressible and Incompressible Fluid Particles in a Spherical Region
No full textIn the previous work, the response of viscous and non-viscous fluids to magnetic resonance was examined. In this research work, Diffusion magnetic resonance imaging, MRI, is used to study, analyse and compare the response of particles of compressible and incompressible fluids in a spherical region. The fluids considered are hydrogen gas and paraffin oil. The general flow equation was evolved from the fundamental Bloch equations. The general flow equation wassolved using the method of separation of variables and applied to spherical region leading to Legendre equation of the first and second kinds. From the results obtained, it can be concluded that the value of Magnetization for hydrogen gas ranges from 9.28819444503×1013 to 9.35×1014. However, appreciable change can be noticed when magnetization is 9.2881944500003 × 1013. For paraffin oil, the value of Magnetization ranges from 2.749305556000075×1014 to 2.75×1014with appreciable change noticed at magnetization value of 2.7493055560000094 × 1014. The analytical solution of Diffusion MRI equation adopted in this research work has shown the difference in compressible (hydrogen gas) and incompressible (paraffin oil) fluids in a spherical region through the magnetization values that were generated. This is laying credence to the effectiveness and non-invasive properties of MRI
Development and Analysis of a Nested Multiscale Model of Hepatitis B Viral Infection
No full textHepatitis B remains a global health concern owing to its deadly nature. A Nested MultiscaleModel was developed by applying the Replication-Transmission Theory at the cell level ofbiological organisation. A new set of measures to assess infectiousness at the individual andcommunity levels was presented at the biological organisation’s cell level, where we groundedour analysis. These models make it possible to investigate the dynamics of the virus withininfected cells, as well as the dynamics of future cell infections and the discharge of the virusfrom infected cells. To study quantitatively how the dynamics of within-cell replication affectthe dynamics of between-cell transmission, mathematical analysis and numerical simulationswere carried out. These simulations can be used to evaluate the effectiveness of treatment andpreventive interventions
Maximum Likelihood Estimation Of Hidden Markov Model: Application To Markers of Infectious Disease Progression
No full textHidden Markov models describe the probabilistic dependence between the latent state and theobserved variable of a system. It is a stochastic model with a sequence of observable eventswhere the underlying process that generates these events is unobserved. Hidden Markov modelscould be used to analyze the history of various diseases, including infectious disease progression.These models in life experiments describe the disease evolution, estimate the transition rates,and evaluate the therapy effects on progression. In many cases, the states characterize themarkers of the diseases. Parameter estimation is indispensable when using the hidden Markovmodel to model any dataset. In this work, the hidden Markov model is used to analyze thedataset of HIV-infected patients undergoing antiretroviral treatments at a university teachinghospital in Nigeria with different compliance levels. The model’s parameters were estimatedusing the maximum likelihood estimation (MLE) method. The variables are the CD4 countsand viral load results, often clinically characterized as markers of infectious diseases. Thetransition probabilities provide insights into the stability and dynamics of the hidden states,which is crucial for understanding the underlying processes modeled by the HMM. The resultsindicate that stage 1 has a high probability of staying on that stage with ART treatment,whereas stage 2 has a higher chance of sliding to stage 3. The results also indicate a highchance of remaining in stage 3 once a patient is diagnosed with AIDS. The results show thatkeeping the CD4 count up with antiretroviral treatments holds off symptoms and complicationsof the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and helps patients live longer. These highlightthe importance of maintaining an undetectable viral load with ART to ensure a healthy lifefor HIV-infected individuals. Consequently, patient compliance in completing the treatmentregimes is optimal
On Rank of Semigroup of Order-Preserving Order-Decreasing Partial Contraction Mappings on a Finite Chain
No full textLet [n] = {1, 2, . . . , n} be a finite chain, and ODCPn be the semigroup of order-preserving and order-decreasing partial contraction mappings on [n]. In this paper, we study the rank properties of the two-sided ideals of ODCPn. We show that the rank of Kp = {α ∈ ODCPn : |im α| ≤ p}, for 2 ≤ p ≤ n, is and hence, the rank of ODCPn is 2
On the Existence of Solutions of Multi-Term Fractional Order Volterra Integro-Differential Equations
No full textIn this paper, the problem of multi-term fractional order Volterra integro-differential equations is considered. The multi-term fractional order derivative part of the multi-term fractional order Volterra integro-differential equations is converted to its equivalent integral equation and Schauder’s fixed point theorem is applied to establish the existence of solutions for the multi-term fractional order Volterra integro-differential equations under some mild conditions. Furthermore, examples were given to test the applicability of the proposed theorem.
 
Food Security in Africa: The Role of Agricultural Import and Export
No full textThe study investigates food security in Africa and utilises secondary data sourced from the World Data Banks from 1980 to 2019 on ten African countries; Angola, Central African Republic, Cote D'Ivoire, Cameroon, Egypt, the Gambia, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, and South Africa selected using the convenience sampling technique. The objectives of the study were to examine the impact of agricultural export/import on food security and establish the direction of causality among agricultural export/import and food security in the selected African countries. The autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) model and Dumitrescu Hurlin panel causality test were adopted in the evaluation of the study hypotheses. Food security was measured in terms of availability and accessibility was proxied by food production index (FPI) and GDP per capita respectively. The result reveals that agricultural exports (AGREXP) has a negative and insignificant impact on food security in the selected African countries while agricultural imports (AGRIMP) has a positive and significant impact on food security. We also found evidence of unidirectional causality between agricultural export and food security and between agricultural import and food security, at a 5% level of significance. We conclude that agricultural import has a positive effect on food security while agricultural export has a negative insignificant effect on food security. It is therefore recommended that, in view of the rapid urbanization in Africa, agricultural imports and trade liberalization should be further used to boost food security in order to achieve the sustainable goal of zero hunger in African cities
FORENSIC BACKGROUND INVESTIGATION TECHNIQUE AND INSIDER FRAUD THREATS: EVIDENCE FROM THE LOW-LEVEL SUPPLY CHAIN FIRMS IN NIGERIA
No full textThe paper explores the nexus between forensic background investigation techniques on employees and insider fraud threats in Nigeria's low-level supply chain firms. The research design adopted for the study is a survey. Primary data are gathered from the 109 volunteered sole-business owners used for the analysis; descriptive and inferential statistical tools are deployed to analyse the data.
Findings reveal that sole-business owners rarely conduct background investigations on their employees during recruitment. The background intelligence gathering among the firms' employees is significantly low. Slack employment policies, misplaced trust, and uncoordinated internal control systems among the firms mostly create avenues for employees to commit fraud. The study concludes that both tactical and strategic approaches to intelligence gathering on employees are suitable methods to build up a detailed signal of threats to a business. Initial assessments and background forensic investigation processes on employees help make timely decisions about how to respond to insider fraud threats and identify what protective measures to take. The study recommends that sole business owners protect their investments by employing trustworthy persons, ensuring the safety of the assets, and upholding the reputation of the firm’s image. Preemployment and on-the-job forensic background investigation techniques and tactical intelligence evaluation on the employees should be part of the standard anti-fraud strategies of a small-size business firm. Credibility in the information gathered, and intelligence products generated by each employee must be a hallmark of the employing firm