Foreword: The Legal Profession and Social Change

Fordham University School of Law’s Stein Center for Law and Ethics has collaborated with the Fordham Law Review every year since the late 1990s to encourage, collect, and publish scholarly writings on different aspects of the legal profession, including its norms, regulation, organization, history, and development—that is, on themes relating to what law schools loosely call “legal ethics.” The legal profession is an important subject of study for legal scholars, among others. Although one U.S. Supreme Court Justice, himself a former law professor, airily derided legal ethics as the “least analytically rigorous . . . of law-school subjects,” we dispute this characterization and share pride in the scholarship collected over more than a quarter of a century. Recent societal developments, including mass protests, responses to racial injustices, the growth of social movements, greater awareness about climate change, and rapid development in technology, have all had profound impact on society, including the establishment and modification of laws and regulations, the establishment of new programs and policies in the private and public sectors, changes in the use of social media, and changes in institutions and professions. This year, the Fordham Law Review’s collection of Essays on the legal profession addresses a broad theme that encompasses these changes: The Legal Profession and Social Change. One might not reflexively associate the legal profession with social change given its historic conservativism, but the profession is not a monolith. Today, there are over a million lawyers. Different slices of the profession have different relationships to social change. Some lawyers resist it, but others adapt to it or assist clients in adapting to it or promoting it. Some seek to be at the vanguard of changing society for the better. Particularly given the many ongoing changes we are experiencing and the other changes that some hope to see, one can take the theme of this collection in various directions, as its contributors do

Inhibitory Action of Rice Husk Extract (RHE) on the Corrosion of Carbon Steel in Acidic Media

The study investigates the inhibition characteristics of rice husk extract (RHE) on the corrosion of mild steel in 1M acidic media. Mass loss, Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), phytochemical analysis were used as basis for studying the corrosion inhibition behaviour of the extracts. The analyses of the results showed that as concentration increases, there was increase in the inhibitor while increase in temperature reduces the inhibition respectively. Moreover, the highest inhibition efficiency was 94.24 % at 40 oC and 0.25 g/l inhibition concentration in sulfuric acid medium while inhibition efficiency of 89 % at 60 oC and 0.20 g/l inhibition concentration in hydrochloric acid. The thermodynamic parameters revealed that the adsorption of extract onto the metal surface was spontaneous. Langmuir isotherm best fits the data obtained suggesting physical adsorption as the adsorption mechanism between the extract and the mild steel substrate. The results from the FT-IR spectroscopy showed that the organic compounds found in Rice husk made it a good inhibitor

Pollutant Emissions, Energy Consumption and Economic Growth in Nigeria

The study investigates the direction of causal relationships among emissions, energy consumption and economic growth in Nigeria using annual time series data for the period 1970-2013. The Johansen maximum likelihood cointegration tests indicate an existence of a unique cointegrating vector, and the normalized long run estimates shows that fossil fuel enhances carbon emissions whereas, clean energy source (electricity) mitigate the atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. Similarly, the Wald exogeneity Granger causality test indicates an existence of unidirectional causation running from fossil fuel to CO2 emissions and gross domestic product (GDP) per capita. Alternatively, non-fossil energy (electric power) causes more proportionate change in GDP per capita but our result could not establish any causal link between electric power and carbon emissions. Finally, charting a channel towards ensuring sustainable environment and economic development involves a progressive substitutability of clean energy sources for fossil consumption

Homocysteine Levels in Nigerian Women with Pre-eclampsis/Eclampsia

Hyperhomocysteinaemia has been linked in various studies worldwide to the occurrence of cardiovascular disorders and endothelial cell injury. In Nigeria with one of the highest maternal/neonatal mortality and morbidity, it is significant to explore means of predicting pregnancy-induced hypertension. This study was carried out at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital which is a major referral center in the South-western part of Nigeria. It was set to determine the mean plasma homocysteine levels and corpuscular haemoglobin in pre-eclamptic/eclamptic Nigerian women. A total of 150 subjects consisting of 100 primigravidae and 25 diagnosed cases of pre-eclampsia/eclampsia and 25 non-pregnant females were enrolled in the study. 60 primigravidae were lost to follow up or had incomplete data. The mean value of homocysteine in the control group, and eclamptic group was 7.5±3.4 μmol/L and 16.1±6.5 μmol/L respectively. There is positive and significant correlation between plasma homocysteine in the eclamptic group and the mean MCV (r=0.97, p=0.01), and between plasma homocysteine, systolic and diastolic blood pressure of the eclamptic group (r=0.944, p=0.0001; r=0.98, p=0.0001). The study further supports earlier findings of increased homocysteine levels in the occurrence of pre-eclampsia/eclampsia. Keywords: Hyperhomocysteinaemia, Pre-eclampsia/eclampsia, Primigravidae, Cardiovascular disorde

Socioeconomic impacts of Households’ Vulnerability during COVID-19 Pandemic in South Africa: Application of Tobit and Probit Models

Coronavirus is a public health issue with socioeconomic and livelihood dimensions. The World Health Organization declared the current novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) epidemic a public health emergency of international concern on January 30, 2020, and a global pandemic on March 11, 2020. The South African government has implemented different strategies, ranging from total lockdown in certain locations and provision of palliatives in some provinces across the country. This study, therefore, investigated the correlates of vulnerability and responsiveness to the adverse impacts of COVID-19 in South Africa. The study utilized primary data collected among 477 respondents. Descriptive statistical tools, Tobit and Probit regression models, were used to analyze the data. The study found different levels of vulnerability (low, medium, and high) and responsiveness among households, including stocking up of food items, remote working, reliance on palliatives, and social grant provision, among others. Some of the correlates of responsiveness to the COVID-19 pandemic include being employed, the type of community, and the income of respondents. The study, therefore, recommends increased investments in welfare programmes (safety nets, palliative measures and economic stimulus packages) as well as capacity building of households through education to reduce vulnerability. Doi: 10.28991/HIJ-2022-03-04-02 Full Text: PD

Hedging potentials of green investments against climate and oil market risks

Purpose: This study examines the ability of clean energy stocks to provide cover for investors against market risks related to climate change and disturbances in the oil market.Design/methodology/approach: The study adopts the Feasible Quasi Generalized Least Squares technique to estimate a predictive model based on Westerlund and Narayan’s (2015) approach to evaluating the hedging effectiveness of clean energy stocks. The out-of-sample forecast evaluations of the oil risk-based and climate risk-based clean energy predictive models are explored using Clark and West’s model (2007) and a modified Diebold & Mariano forecast evaluation test (Harvey et al., 1997) for nested and non-nested models respectively.Findings: The study finds ample evidence that clean energy stocks may hedge against oil market risks. This result is robust to alternative measures of oil risk and holds when applied to data from the COVID-19 pandemic. In contrast, the hedging effectiveness of clean energy against climate risks is limited to 4 of the 6 clean energy indices and restricted to climate risk measured with Climate Policy Uncertainty.Originality/value: The study contributes to the literature by providing extensive analysis of hedging effectiveness of several clean energy indices (global, US, Europe, and Asia) and sectoral clean energy indices (solar and wind) against oil market and climate risks using various measures of oil risk (WTI and Brent volatility) and climate risk (Climate Policy Uncertainty and Energy and Environmental Regulation) as predictors. It also conducts forecast evaluations of the clean energy predictive models for nested and non-nested models

Chest X-ray findings in HIV- infected Highly Active Antiretroviral Treatment (HAART) - naïve patients

Introduction: Patients with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection frequently present with a wide spectrum of pulmonary and cardiaccomplications from the virus, opportunistic infections and neoplasms that may be associated with a high mortality rate. Diseases of the respiratorytract account for about half of deaths from AIDS, while cardiac diseases account for more than a quarter of deaths from AIDS. This study aimed atdetermining the prevalence of pulmonary and cardiac diseases using a chest radiograph in HAART-naïve HIV-infected patients. Methods: Thisstudy was conducted at Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH) HIV clinic between September 2010 and August 2011 amongst allregistered HAART-naïve HIV/AIDS patients. Patients had posterior-anterior chest radiographs done in full inspiration. Participants were asked andaided to fill the structured questionnaires to obtain demographic data. Results: Out of a total of one hundred and two recruited for the study, 54 (52.94%) had a normal chest radiograph, while 48 (47.06%) had abnormal chest radiograph .The abnormal findings included, 27.45% who hadbronchopneumonia, 6.86% cardiomegaly, 5.88% pulmonary tuberculosis, 5.88% radiological features of congestive cardiac failure, and 0.98%bronchitis. Conclusion: It appears that more than half of HAART–naïve HIV-infected patients have normal chest radiographs. Bronchopneumonia(27.5%) is the commonest pulmonary abnormality associated with HIV infection, while the prevalence of pulmonary tuberculosis is 5.88%.Key words: Chest X-ray, HIV-infected, HAART-naïve

Intraspecific reproductive variabilities in Capsicum frutescens (L.) in Nigeria

Natural intraspecific and interspecific crosses among Capsicum species are very high, resulting in intermediary forms which are complex to categorize. It is likely that through these crosses, new species or varieties may have arisen. The present study evaluated intraspecific reproductive variablities among eight accessions of C. fructesens. Each accession was planted in 10-litre plastic buckets arranged in single lines of inter- and intra-row (70 cm x 50 cm) and filled with loamy soil in five replicates at the Department of Pure and Applied Botany Screen House, Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta (Latitude 7°9'N, longitude 30°21'E), Nigeria. Quantitative and qualitative reproductive characters were evaluated through measurements and visual observation, respectively. Means were separated using the Duncan's Multiple Range Test at p ˂ 0.05 (Statistical Analysis Systems version 9.2). The wide variation in the flower position, corolla colour, corolla spot colour, anthocyanin spots, fruit colour at intermediate and maturity, fruit set, days to flowering and fruiting, number of seeds per fruit and locules between AS002 and other accessions revealed that AS002 was significantly different. The study, therefore, suggests AS002 to be a new species in Nigeria, suspected to be C. baccatum, and also the best among the accessions for breeding purposes

Hemoglobin and ferritin concentrations in subjects with metabolic syndrome

Background Metabolic syndrome (MetS), a clinical condition characterized by insulin resistance, glucose intolerance, dyslipidemia, hypertension, and obesity, has been linked with raised levels of serum ferritin (Sfr) concentrations. Objectives This study was carried out to compare hemoglobin (Hb) and Sfr concentrations in patients with MetS, regular donors and first-time donors. Materials and Methods A total of 102 subjects who were between 18 and 60 years were enrolled for the study. They were divided into three groups. The first group (n = 20) was made up of 5 males and 15 females, all who met the criteria that define MetS. The second group (n = 52; M = 34, F = 18) were regular donors, while the last group (n = 30; M = 16, F = 14) were first-time donors or those who had not donated before. Following an overnight fast, 20 mL of venous blood was drawn from each subject. About 5 mL of this was put into sodium ethylenediaminetetraacetate (EDTA) specimen bottles for the full blood count parameters with Sysmex KX-21N hematology analyzer (made in Japan). The remaining 15 mL had serum separated for Sfr assay using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) with a commercial assay kit manufactured by Teco Diagnostics. Results Significant difference was found in the mean Sfr concentration of subjects with MetS (163 ± 136.92 ng/mL) and regular donors (41.46 ± 40.33 ng/mL), P = 0.001. The mean Sfr concentrations of subjects with MetS (163 ± 136.92 ng/mL) were also higher than that of first-time donors (102.46 ± 80.26 ng/mL), but it was not statistically significant, P = 0.053. The Hb concentrations of the three groups were not significantly different. Conclusion Sfr concentrations of regular donors were lower than that of subjects with MetS and first-time donors. The difference between regular donors and subjects with MetS was statistically significant. However, there is no significant difference in the Hb concentrations in the three groups. MetS is not associated with anemia or hyperferritinemia

Prostaglandin levels and semen quality in male partners of infertile couples in Ile-Ife, Nigeria

The study revealed a high percentage of men with sub-normal semen .Range of PGF2á in the subjects was 0.15-11.05µg/ml with a mean of 2.77± 0.23 µg/ml while that of PGE was 21.8- 652.0 µg/ml with a mean of 248.79± 13.88 µg/ml. Among men with normal semen profile, mean PGF2á and PGE levels are 2.1± 0.32 µg/ml and 325.1± 28.3 µg/ml respectively while that in semen of men with subnormal semen are 3.0± 0.28 µg/ml and 225.1 ± 15.1µg/ml respectively. Despite the wide range of PG values in all the groups, significant differences(P<0.05) were found to exist between the PG values of men in the normal and sub normal semen groups. Significant differences were also found when they were grouped according to sperm count alone. However, differences observed when in the grouping according to other individual semen characteristics are not significant. Conclusion: The wide range of PG values obtained in all the groups make it difficult to make far reaching conclusions as to the relationship between PG levels and semen quality. Further research is desirable in establishing the role of PGs in sperm function