1,720,958 research outputs found
Assessing the Employee Well-Being and Performance in Small-Sized Construction Organization
Get PDFPerformance in paid work has for many years been studied as an important form of individual and group behavior, with researchers and practitioners often aiming for its enhancement through job design, staff selection and development, or shaping managerial style and organizational culture. In parallel with this interest in performance, psychologists in employment settings have also worked to understand the sources and consequences of well-being, motivation and performance. These three variables are examined together in the assessing the employee well-being in small-sized construction organization in Ekiti State. Employee well-being is considered as an important tool for enhancing worker’s performance and construction sector is not an exception. It has been empirically established that well-being has positive impact on construction worker’s performance. Moreover, empirical studies have shown that performance in the sector has been decreasing globally. This study therefore aims at understand the demanding working environment of the construction industry and the factors which lead to employees being troubled. The researcher was of the opinion that an improved well-being of employees can significantly improve the organization productivity. Quantitative research design was employed with same questionnaire administered on the population covered. Random sampling techniques were used to select small-sized construction organization sampled from a selected population in Ekiti State, Nigeria. Purposive sampling was used to administer questionnaires to various employees. 75questionnaires were administered to employee collectively and 70 was filled and returned which constitute 93.3% success rate. Questionnaire was designed in Likert scale of 1-5. Analysis was done by statistical packages for social sciences version 17. Descriptive statistics which include mean percentile and tables were used to present the data. One Way Analysis of Variance was used to determine whether there is relationship between well-being and organization performance. Data analysis and results on the factors affecting small-sized construction organization employee well-being indicates that there is a statistically significant linear relationship between well-being and performance. The result also revealed that there is a positive and significant relationship between well-being and employee’s performance which reinforces the reinforcement and expectancy theory of remuneration especially the concept of Thorndike’s Law of Effect meaning a response followed by a reward is more likely to recur in the future. The study concluded that well-being has impact on employees and organization performance and recommend that the employers of labor both private and government must not take the well-being of their employees for granted because it will result in low productivity
Strength Characteristics of Rice Husk and Corn Cob Ash Blended Cement Concrete
Get PDFThe study investigates the mechanical properties of concrete incorporating Rice husk Ash (RHA) and Concorb Ash (CCA) as cementitious binders. Concrete cubes was prepared from a standardized prescribed mix of 1:2:4. The cement component in the reference mix was replaced with combined % weight of rice husk ash and corncob ash. The physical and chemical composition of RHA and CCA were examined as well as the workability and compressive strength properties of varying percentage of RHA and CCA blended cement concrete. Water–cement ratios of 0.6, was adopted for the reference and blended mixes. A total of 75 concrete cubes of different percentages by weight of combination of RHA and CCA to Portland cement in the order of 0%, 10%, 20%, 30%, and 40% were cast. The strength measurements of concrete were performed at the ages of 7, 14, 21, 28 and 56 days. The results revealed that compressive strength increased with increase in curing age but decreased as the RHA and CCA contents increased. The compressive strength of concrete cubes with the combination of RHA and CCA was lower at early stages but improves significantly up to 56 days. The highest compressive strength was 22.94N/mm2 and 26.27N/mm2 at 56 days for 0% and 10% combination of RHA and CCA respectivelyBased on the test results the study concluded that 10% RHA and CCA content is adequate as supplementary cementitious material for blended concrete
Assessment of Compressive Strength of Hollow Sandcrete Block Produced in Akure Ondo State
Get PDFThis study aimed at evaluating the properties of sandcrete hollow blocks produced by block industries in Ondo State. The study focused on assessing the compressive strength, water absorption, and dimensional properties of sandcrete blocks obtained from five different producers. The blocks samples were collected from each producer and subjected to compressive strength, water absorption, and dimensional analysis. Also sieve analysis and specific gravity tests were conducted on the sand samples to determine their suitability for block production. The results of these tests indicated that the fine aggregates used were appropriate for making blocks. However, the study found that the compressive strength of the 450 x 150 x 225mm (6") sandcrete blocks was not sufficient. The minimum recorded unit compressive strength was 0.55 N/mm², while the average compressive strength was 0.80 N/mm². These values fell below the standard requirements for load-bearing sandcrete blocks. According to the Nigerian industrial standard, individual blocks should have a minimum compressive strength of 2.5 N/mm², and the average compressive strength of five blocks should not be less than 3.45 N/mm². To enhance the quality of sandcrete blocks manufactured by commercial block industries in the study area, the study recommends standardizing the block manufacturing processes and enforcing strict supervision during production. These measures will ensure that the blocks meet the required compressive strength standards and suitable for load-bearing purposes. 
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
Study on the Bending Strength of Solid and Glue-Laminated Timber from Three Selected Nigerian Timber Species
Get PDFStructural timber is desirable for lightness, aesthetics and environmental friendliness. However harnessing timber for structural application can be daunting. Over decades, developed societies modified their sawn timber species by way of gluing in the forms of glued laminated beams and columns. In Nigeria, sawn timber is yet to be explored along these lines. This paper therefore assessed the suitability of Funtumia africana, Alstonia congensis and Antiaris toxicaria Nigerian timber species in the production of glue- laminated timber elements using polyvinyl acetate glue. The glueability, physical and mechanical properties of solid and glue-laminated species were assessed and compared. Bending strength and characteristic values of bending strength were determined. Results showed that the timber species were glueable and bending strength across the species was 65.22 N/mm2 vs 36.44 N/mm2; 26.15 N/mm2 vs 25 N/mm2; 14 N/mm2 vs 20 N/mm2 in solid vs glued laminated Funtumia Africana, Alstonia congensis and Antiaris toxicaria beams respectively in edge wise bending. The glued laminated elements across the species developed 55%, 95% and 143% of the solid wood strength. It was shown that the timber species were structurally glueable using polyvinyl acetate glue. The study has shown that the bending strengths of glue-laminated Nigerian timber species were of structural significance given the bending strength of 36.44 N/mm2, 25 N/mm2 and 20 N/mm2 in Funtumia africana (Ire), Alstonia congensis(Awun) and Antiaris toxicaria (Oriro). Keywords: Glueability, Glued laminated timber, Nigerian timber species, bending strengt
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
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
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