Trust in government and the politics of fuel subsidy removal in Lagos, Nigeria.

Government’s incompetence causes public restlessness; nevertheless, it overlooks how this shapes public trust. This paper examines how government’s failure to meet the expectations of the governed has caused it to lose public trust in Nigeria. Using exchange theory as its theoretical framework, the survey research design, involving the use of qualitative and quantitative methods, was adopted. It covered the three senatorial districts in Lagos using data obtained from 220 respondents selected through a multistage sampling procedure. Three focus group discussions were conducted for complementary qualitative data. Data analysis involved the use of simple percentages, chi square and content analysis. The findings indicated that 90.0% of the respondents said subsidy proceeds were poorly managed by government, that they distrust government (85.0%), equate trust with votes (60.0%) and that dishonesty reduces public trust (60.0%). To develop trust in government, 80.0% of the respondents suggested transparency. The paper concludes that nonfulfilment of promises by government erodes its trust by public. Therefore, the paper suggests that for public trust in government to endure, the culture of impunity should be uprooted from Nigerian polity.Keywords: Democracy, trust, fuel subsidy, politics, Lagos, Nigeri

Variation in the susceptibility of Anopheles gambiae to botanicals across a metropolitan region of Nigeria

Pesticide resistance is normally associated with genetic changes, resulting in varied responses to insecticides between different populations. There is little evidence of resistance to plant allelochemicals; it is likely that their efficacy varies between genetically diverse populations, which may lead to the development of resistance in the future. This study evaluated the response of Anopheles gambiae (larvae and adults) from spatially different populations to acetone extracts of two botanicals, Piper guineense and Eugenia aromatica. Mosquito samples from 10 locations within Akure metropolis in Southwest Nigeria were tested for variation in susceptibility to the toxic effect of botanical extracts. The spatial distribution of the tolerance magnitude (T.M.) of the mosquito populations to the botanicals was also mapped. The populations of An. gambiae manifested significant differences in their level of tolerance to the botanicals. The centre of the metropolis was the hot spot of tolerance to the botanicals. There was a significant positive correlation between the adulticidal activities of both botanicals and initial knockdown. Hence, knockdown by these botanicals could be a predictor of their subsequent mortality. In revealing variation in response to botanical pesticides, our work has demonstrated that any future use of botanicals as alternative environmentally friendly vector control chemicals needs to be closely monitored to ensure that resistance does not develop

TopicFlow: Disentangling quark and gluon jets with normalizing flows

The isolation of pure samples of quark and gluon jets is of key interest at hadron colliders. Recent work has employed topic modeling to disentangle the underlying distributions in mixed samples obtained from experiments. However, current implementations do not scale to high-dimensional observables as they rely on binning the data. In this work we introduce TopicFlow, a method based on normalizing flows to learn quark and gluon jet topic distributions from mixed datasets. These networks are as performant as the histogram-based approach, but since they are unbinned, they are efficient even in high dimension. The models can also be oversampled to alleviate the statistical limitations of histograms. As an example use case, we demonstrate how our models can improve the calibration accuracy of a classifier. Finally, we discuss how the flow likelihoods can be used to perform outlier-robust quark/gluon classification.Comment: 10 pages, 5 figures. v2: Added footnote in Section III B. Added baseline and related discussion to Section III C. v3: Match published versio

Mass Communication Education in Nigeria: Current Status, Challenges and Way Forward

Since independence in 1960, there has been a steady growth of mass communication education in Nigeria. However, recent studies have shown that a significant number of graduates in the discipline do not possess the requisite skills for employment. This paper reiterates the issue. It describes the current status of mass communication education in the country, with a focus on the challenges confronting it, and suggests the way forward. The discourse shows that the number of mass communication graduates continues to grow but quality is declining. The challenges identified are the inadequacy of modern journalism facilities, absence of good journalism institutes, the doctorate syndrome, inadequate curricula, few hands-on opportunities for teaching and learning, poor funding, and negative students’ attitude toward research. The authorities and stakeholders must address these issues to enable the country keep up with the best global practices

Political Leadership and the Development of Education Programme in Nigeria: Lessons for African Nations

This paper examined the implications of political leadership on the development of education programmes in Nigeria and lessons for African nations.. The political environment has a strong influence on educational policy planning and implementation in any nation . Successive governments, both during the military and civilian regimes, tend to pursue educational programmes in line with their respective ideologies and priorities. Funding of education programmes was not only found to be inadequate, it was also based on the priority of the ruling government. In addition, by the 1990s many African countries degenerated into severe political instability most in the form of open conflicts. This has compounded the problems of expenditure underspending during the later 1980s and thus resulting in policy somersaults. In order to reduce the level of illiteracy in Nigeria and also achieve the Millenium Development Goal (MDG) of achieving education for all by 2015, Nigeria and indeed all African nation's need a political leadership that is focused and vigorously pursuing the development of education programmes that will stand the test of time and move their respective nations forward technologically

Plasmacytoma of the Breast: A Report of a Rare Disease

BACKGROUND: Extramedullary plasma cells tumours are rare. Much more rarer is their occurance in the breast tissue. Our aim is to report a single case of this very rare lesion (at least from an African  perspective) that we incidentally diagnosed histopathologically as a primary extramedullary lesion in a 53 year old woman.CASE DEATILS: Clinical records of a 53 year old postmenopausal woman was referred from a secondary health centre to our clinic with a three weeks’ history of right breast lump were reviewed. There was no associated pain, nipple discharge, weight loss or systemic symptoms nor was there a previous history of  trauma or surgery to the breast. On examination: two discrete lumps measuring 3x2 and 2 x 1.5cm in the upper medial quadrant of the right breast were identified. The lumps were firm, irregular in shape, not  attached to the skin or underlying tissues. Tentative diagnosis of adenocarcinoma of the breast was  made, with a differential as fat necrosis. A wide excision biopsy was done four days later for histology,  after an inconclusive cytological examination of smear of which the result revealed plasmacytosis. The  liver function test, Plasma proteins electrophoresis, electrolytes, urea, creatinine, bicarbonate and pelvic X-rays, and abdomino-pelvic ultrasonography were normal. Bence Jones proteins were negative in urine. Histology of bone marrow aspirate revealed scanty plasma cells.RESULTS: She received 20mg dexamethasone, 20mg adramycin, and 2mg vincristine intravenously and 200mg of alloperinol daily by mouth for three days before leaving by the 4th treatment day against medical advice for personal reasons.CONCLUSION: This rare lesion should sometimes be considered as a differential diagnosis of a breast lump, as it does not differ from the common lesions clinically, especially in older women.KEYWORDS: Extramedullary, plasmacytoma, primary, breast, lesio

Levels of some physiochemical parameters in leachates from open dumpsites in Lokoja, Kogi State, Nigeria

Leachates from selected dumpsites and control site in Lokoja municipal were analyzed for physiochemical properties. These parameters were compared with control samples and established international standards FEPA and WHO. Dumpsite leachates contained very high concentration of TDS which ranges between 5180.60±46.51mg/L - 3071.80±38.96mg/L, BOD 1085.60±7.44mg/L - 885.80±5.41mg/L, Alkalinity  2396.20±10.35mg/L - 1271.00±14.61mg/L. COD 4062.04±32.81mg/L - 2926.80±15.65mg/L, Chloride 1912.42±6.32mg/L - 1071.70±16.10mg/L while Ammonia ranges between 711.33±12.15 - 633.00±5.80mg/L. The study revealed that the dumpsite is a major polluting source in the surrounding environment. This underlines the need for appropriate government agency of Kogi State, Nigeria to initiate active remediation process such as phytoremediation in combination with physiochemical methods to recover the dumpsite from contaminants and reduce the level of pollution in the surrounding environment.Keywords: Dumpsite, Leachates, Physicochemical parameters, Phytoremediation

The Risk of Venous Thromboembolism (VTE) in Men with Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia Treated with 5-Alpha Reductase Inhibitors (5ARIs)

Background: Many men receive 5-alpha reductase inhibitors (5ARIs) for ongoing treatment of benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). The increased risk of cardiovascular complications with 5ARIs has been documented in BPH studies and the occurrence of cerebral venous thrombosis, presumably due to increased estrogen level following 5ARI use, was described in multiple case reports. The objective of this study was to determine if 5ARIs with or without alpha blockers (AB) were associated with an increased risk of venous thromboembolism (VTE) in males with BPH. Methods: We conducted a nested case-control study among a population of men ages 40-79 who received at least one 5ARI or AB prescription for treatment of BPH between 1995 and 2015 in the UK-based Clinical Practice Research Datalink GOLD. Cases of incident VTE (pulmonary embolism [PE] or deep venous thrombosis [DVT]) and matched controls were identified from this population. We used descriptive analyses and conditional logistic regression to evaluate the risk of VTE in users of 5ARIs compared to users of ABs. Results: For 5ARI only users, the adjusted odds ratios (aORs), (95% CI) for VTE were 1.51 (0.98-2.32) in current 5ARI users and 1.23 (0.70-2.17) in recent/distant past, compared to AB only users. However, the aOR (95% CI) in men who had 50 or more current 5ARI prescriptions compared to users of ABs only was higher: 2.29 (1.14-4.63). For 5ARI with AB use, the aORs, (95% CI) for VTE were 1.16 (0.64-2.10) in current 5ARI+AB users and 1.93 (0.71-5.25) in recent/distant past, compared to AB only users. The aOR (95% CI) in men who had 50 or more current 5ARI+AB prescriptions compared to users of ABs only was 1.65 (0.64-4.26). Conclusion: Current use of 5ARI, particularly long-term use, is associated with an increased risk of incident idiopathic VTE compared to patients treated with AB use only

Inhibition of α-amylase, α-glucosidase and oxidative stress by some common apple varieties

In recent times, the consumption of apples has been encouraged for the management of chronic diseases such as diabetes, but biochemical evidence to support this practice is lacking. Therefore, this study investigated α-amylase and α-glucosidase inhibitory activity, 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging ability, Fe2+-induced lipid peroxidation potential as well as the total phenol and flavonoid contents of aqueous extracts of the apple varieties Malus sylvestris (green apple), Malus pumila (red apple) and Syzygium samarangense (wax apple). The results showed that all apple varieties inhibited α-amylase (IC50=12.66–16.98 µg/ml) and α-glucosidase (13.55–16.23 µg/ml) in a dosedependent manner, with green apple showing the highest inhibitory activity while wax apple had the least. Similarly, all apple varieties showed dose-dependent DPPH radical scavenging activity (EC50=222.92–278.71 µg/ml) with green apple also showing the highest scavenging activity while wax apple showed the least. Furthermore, the aqueous extracts of the apple varieties dosedependently inhibited Fe2+-induced lipid peroxidation in rat pancreas (38.60–53.57 µg/ml), with wax apple exhibiting the highest inhibitory potential. Also, the total phenol content of the apple varieties ranged from 16.14 to 17.45 mg GAE/100g, while the flavonoid content ranged from 4.17 to 5.56 mg QUE/100 g, with green apple having the highest total phenolic and flavonoid contents. The biological activities exhibited by the apple varieties could be attributed to the presence of biologically active photochemicals. Furthermore, the apple variety (green apple) with the highest phenolic content showed the best overall activity, indicating the potent role of phenolic compounds in the management of diabetes, thereby providing biochemical support for the use of apples as a functional food in diabetes management