1,721,044 research outputs found
Relationship between building collapse and poor quality of materials and workmanship in Nigeria
No full textThe series incidence of building collapse in Nigeria called for a need to study the competency and
effectiveness of construction sites workers, the quality, durability, performance and other quality
assurance criteria of building materials and components used in building construction industry. This
research investigated the effects of poor quality of materials and workmanship on building collapse in Nigeria and their consequences. The data were obtained through well-structured questionnaires
administered to building professionals and historical data of past building collapse in Nigeria. The study revealed that the quality of materials and workmanship in Nigerian building industry is not satisfactory and that the problem lies in the use of inappropriate materials supplied to site, inadequate materials and inefficient supervision of the site workers. It is to be noted that most of the collapsed buildings are private residential constructed by indigenous contractors. It was concluded that poor quality of materials and workmanship have a very high effect on building collapse in Nigeria. This paper recommended the need for involvement of skilled workers, quality assurance of materials before incorporated into building works, sanitization of building materials and proper supervision of workers
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Get PDFThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
Get PDF“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Get PDFWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
Comparative analysis of the impacts of risks on bonded and unbonded construction projects
No full textAbstract: Despite the introduction and adoption of various techniques and innovative practices geared towards improving the delivery of construction projects, some notable problems of cost overrun, time delay, low quality, dissatisfied clients, etc. still persist. One of the notable practices in the construction industry is the use of bonds and guarantees. Construction bond was introduced as an instrument to protect or indemnify its recipients against risks and problems associated with construction projects but the challenge over the years lies in the practical enforcement of bonding conditions and its overall benefits to the construction industry. This research therefore evaluate the risks that are associated with bonded and unbonded projects with a view to ascertaining their effects on overall construction projects success. Primary data were collected through administration of questionnaires on identified construction bond stakeholders namely: clients of public projects: quantity surveying and architectural firms; and construction firms. Questionnaires were administered on 337 respondents out of which 242 were returned while 236 were certified fit for analysis. Mean item score was used for ranking the identified factors while Kruskal-Wallis and Mann-Whitney tests were employed to examine relationship and differences in sample means of different groups of respondents respectively. The study revealed that financial soundness of the issuer also known as credit risk has major effect on projects with bond while for projects without bond, liquidity risk requires the most attention. The identified bond risks are more inherent in bonded projects except for liquidity and volatility risk. In view of this, special attention should be accorded the activities of guarantors, that is banks and insurance companies, shouldered with the responsibilities of issuing bonds in an attempt to reduce their influence on construction bond process. This will enhance value for money for contractors seeking the bonds and eventually lead to success of construction project
An Examination of the Causes and Effects of Building Collapse in Nigeria
No full textThe research investigated the causes and consequence of building collapse in Nigeria using historical data from 1974 to 2006 and also proffers appropriate solutions. Relevant books, seminar papers, workshop papers, articles, etc. were reviewed so as to examine the general view of individuals that have worked on similar study. Data for the study were obtained through historical data of past building collapse in Nigeria. The data were presented and analysed using tables, bar graphs, Pearson moment correlation coefficient (r) and linear regression analysis to generate a model. Sixty (60) buildings that collapsed in the country were gathered, upon which the analysis was carried out. The study revealed that poor maintenance culture, design error, poor quality of materials and workmanship, natural phenomenon and excessive loading contributed to about 7%, 15%, 52%, 7% and 20% respectively of building collapse in Nigeria with most of them being private residential buildings executed by indigenous contractors. The study finally recommended that Standard Organisation of Nigeria (SON) should increase their effort in sanitizing building materials in the market. More so, construction
professionals should ensure proper supervision of workmen and efficient checking of materials before incorporation into building works
Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts
Get PDFWe conducted a full-scale evaluative citation analysis study of scholars in the XML research field to explore just how different from each other author rankings resulting from different citation counting methods actually are, and to demonstrate the capability of emerging data and tools on the Web in supporting more realistic citation counting methods. Our results contest some common arguments for the continued
use of first-author citation counts in the evaluation of scholars, such as high correlations between author rankings by first-author citation counts and other citation
counting methods, and high costs of using more realistic citation counting methods that are not well-supported by the ISI databases. It is argued that increasingly available digital full text research papers make it possible for citation analysis studies to go beyond what the ISI databases have directly supported and to employ more
sophisticated methods
koamabayili/VECTRON-author-checklist: VECTRON author checklist
No full textWe have done our best to complete the author checklist relating to the use of animals in the hut study. Note that the objective for the hut study was to evaluate the IRS treatment applications for residual efficacy against Anopheles mosquitoes, including the local An. coluzzii mosquito population. Cows were only used to attract mosquitoes into the huts and no tests were carried out directly on the cows. The author checklist is intended for use with studies where experiments are carried out on animals, which is why we have had such difficulty in completing this for the hut study, as many of the questions do not relate to how the cows were used
- …
