The Effects of some Major Macroeconomic Variables on Unemployment Rate in Nigeria: A Bounds Test Approach

Nigeria has been experiencing a high unemployment rate over the years The main objective of this paper is to investigate the effects of some macroeconomic variables such as Gross Domestic Product Treasury bill and Inflation rate on unemployment rate in Nigeria over the period 2006Q1-2018Q4 The long-run and short-run impacts of the variables were analyzed using the bound testing co-integration The result shows there is a long-run relationship among the variables The dynamic error correction was carried out and the long-run and short-run coefficients were extracted using the ARDL model The result shows that the Gross Domestic Product has a positive significance on unemployment in the long run However in the short-run only GDP contribute significantly to the unemployment rate The Granger non-causality shows that Treasury bills do not cause Gross Domestic Product There is unilateral causality from Treasury bill to the unemployment rate and inflation rat

Dockovdia cookarum infection and the prosobranch gastropod Lanistes libycus host in Omi Stream, Ago-Iwoye, south-western, Nigeria

Dockovdia cookarum infection was studied in relation to the abundance and size classes of Lanistes libycus from Omi Stream, Ago-Iwoye, Nigeria, between September 1997 and June 1998. 57.6% of the 262 L. libycus recorded were collected during periods of heavy rainfall. 17.2% (45) of the L. libycus examined had D. cookarum infection. The water mite prevalences were higher in rainy season than in dry season, and ranged between 3.0% and 44.4% monthly. L. libycus in 21-30 mm size class had the highest prevalence (73.3%). Intensity of infection was higher in rainy season than in dry season, and ranged between 1 and 6 mite(s)/snail. 2.6% of the L. libycus specimens in the 21-30 mm size class had concurrent D. cookarum and Chaetogaster limnaei infections. Key Words: Dockovdia cookarum, water mites, Lanistes libycus, freshwater molluscs, Nigeria African Jnl Biotechnology Vol.3(3) 2004: 202-20

Improvement of Engineering Properties of Igbokoda Standard Sand with Shredded Polyethylene Wastes

Geotechnical tests were carried out on sand samples to determine important properties of sand modified with strips of high density polyethylene (HDPE) waste. Strips sizes of 15x20 mm, 20x25mm, 25x30mm were used at concentrations of 1%, 2%, 3%, 4% and 5% by mass of the soil sample. Direct shear test results indicate that with the addition of shredded polyethylene, the shear stress value increased from 4.29kN/m2 to a maximum value of 8.21kN/m2 (a percentage increase of 68.54%) while the angle of internal friction of the sand increased from 18˚ to a maximum value of 28˚ (a percentage increase of 55.56%). The coefficient of permeability “k” reduced with increasing strip size and strip concentration thereby modifying the hydraulic property of the sand from a fine sand range (1.30 x 10-5m/sec) to a silty sand range (4.95 x 10-6m/sec). The permeability test result further shows a direct relationship between the increasing shredded polyethylene sizes and a reduction in the permeability of the soil.http://dx.doi.org/10.4314/njt.v34i3.

Detection of microfilariae with counting chamber technique in some Nigerian rural communities

The conventional stained thick smear technique (TS) has innate possibility of underestimation of microfilariae (mf) in microfilaraemic subjects. The usability of counting chamber (CC) technique in the detection of mf was determined in three Nigerian rural communities where Loa loa and Mansonella perstans are endemic. Blood samples were collected by finger-pricking method from 612 subjects (334 males, 278 females), between February 1996 and July 1998. Each blood sample was examined for mf using TS or/and CC technique(s). CC technique had statistically higher sensitivity (79.3%) than TS technique (39.1%). For both techniques, the microfilarial range was 1 to 20 mf/50 μl of blood. There was no statistically significant differences between the microfilarial geometric mean intensities with both techniques.African Journal of Biotechnology Vol. 4 (4), pp. 367-370, 200

Loa loa and Mansonella perstans: Neglected human infections that need control in Nigeria

Despite the continued endemicity of Loa loa and Mansonella perstans infections in many parts of Nigeria, there has been no meaningful large-scale control program against them. This paper presents the epidemiological status of the infections in Nigeria, evaluates and emphasizes the severity of therecorded clinical symptoms, justifies the need for a control program, and proffers possible control measures. It is shown that, based on available literature, the clinical symptoms of the infections could be seriously debilitating with grave negative socio-economic impacts, especially among the ruralpopulace who contribute immensely to agriculture in Nigeria. We opined that it is inhumane and  deceptive to neglect these infectious diseases and the sufferers if truly the country desires health for all

The levels of yield and purity of genomic DNA from five tomato cultivars subjected to two DNA extraction techniques

Isolation of good quality genomic DNA from different plant materials is an important prerequisite for many molecular techniques related to both basic and applied research in the areas of plant molecular biology, crop improvement, biodiversity studies and conservation of genetic materials. Therefore, the need to extract reasonably pure DNA of both good quality and quantity for the downstream successful DNA-based diagnostic techniques is required. In this study, yield and purity of the extracted DNAs, using Dellaporta et al. (1983) and the use of Zymo Research Plant/Seed DNA MiniPrep Kit (ZR kit), were quantified with Nanodrop spectrophotometer and on agarose gel after polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification. The results of the DNA yield and purity were in the range of 24.42 to 1430.52 ng/μl and 1.11 to 2.00, respectively. The outstanding DNA yield in Kerewa cultivar in yield (1430.52 ng/μl) and purity (1.99) makes it appropriate for downstream DNA-based diagnostic techniques in biotechnology research. On agarose gel DNA bands appeared to be compact with negligible smearing with Dellaporta et al. method indicating good quality of DNA. The results demonstrated that good yield of very pure, intact, high quality genomic DNA could be obtained from tomato leaves using the method of Dellaporta et al.Keywords: DNA, extraction, purity, tomato, yield