Foreign Reserve Management and Economic Growth in Nigeria, 1990-2018

The management, administration and utilization of Foreign External Reserves- foreign currency deposits of the apex bank (Central Banks) or other monetary or financial institutions has been a major macroeconomic challenge especially for developing economies like Nigeria. Over the past three decades, Nigeria has witnessed fluctuations in its reserve accumulation and taken numerous policy measures in the management of its external reserves. This study investigated the impact of foreign reserve accumulation and the country’s reserve management policies on its economic growth for the period 1990 to 2018. Secondary data from the United Nations Center for Trade and Development (UNCTAD), World Bank, IMF and Index Mundi Statistical Bulletin were used in the study. The data were subjected to unit root test, cointegration test and Granger Causality tests, The tests revealed that all the variables were integrated at I(1) and are cointegrated. The ECM result showed a long run relationship among the variables in our model. The OLS regression result shows an inverse and insignificant relationship between reserve accumulation and the country’s economic growth. The Reserve to GDP ratio of the country is found to be so low and significantly inversely related to the GDP per capita. Other variables in our model- MPR, BOP, FDI and Foreign Remittances were all found to have positive relationship with the MPR and Exchange rate found to be insignificant. The Granger Causality test shows that exchange rate ad foreign remittances are the dominant variables in our model. The study recommends a holistic reappraisal of the country’s exchange reserve policy, a judicious and sustainable use of foreign reserve and need to strengthen the domestic capital market. Keywords: Balance of Payment, Foreign Reserve Management, Foreign Remittances, Granger Causality. DOI: 10.7176/JESD/10-18-16 Publication date:September 30th 201

Influence of demagnetization in remanence curves of magnetic thin films

Remanent magnetization curves of perpendicular magnetic thin films are simulated and measured. The simulations are used to investigate the theoretical influence of the strong demagnetizing field present in these films. Conclusions are drawn from this on how remanence curves should be measured and how they should be corrected for the demagnetizing influence. The experimental part consists of measurements on Fe‐Alumite, Co‐Pt–based multilayers, and Co‐Cr. In addition the latter material is also artificially patterned into microstrips in order to investigate the influence of demagnetization on remanence curves experimentally

The electric dipole response of 76^{76}Se above 4 MeV

The dipole response of $^{76}_{34}$Se in the energy range 4 to 9 MeV has been analyzed using a $(\vec\gamma,{\gamma}')$ polarized photon scattering technique, performed at the High Intensity $\gamma$-Ray Source facility, to complement previous work performed using unpolarized photons. The results of this work offer both an enhanced sensitivity scan of the dipole response and an unambiguous determination of the parities of the observed J=1 states. The dipole response is found to be dominated by $E1$ excitations, and can reasonably be attributed to a pygmy dipole resonance. Evidence is presented to suggest that a significant amount of directly unobserved excitation strength is present in the region, due to unobserved branching transitions in the decays of resonantly excited states. The dipole response of the region is underestimated when considering only ground state decay branches. We investigate the electric dipole response theoretically, performing calculations in a 3D cartesian-basis time-dependent Skyrme-Hartree-Fock framework.Comment: 20 pages, 18 figures, to be submitted to PR

Interrogating technology-led experiments in sustainability governance

Solutions to global sustainability challenges are increasingly technology‐intensive. Yet, technologies are neither developed nor applied to governance problems in a socio‐political vacuum. Despite aspirations to provide novel solutions to current sustainability governance challenges, many technology‐centred projects, pilots and plans remain implicated in longer‐standing global governance trends shaping the possibilities for success in often under‐recognized ways. This article identifies three overlapping contexts within which technology‐led efforts to address sustainability challenges are evolving, highlighting the growing roles of: (1) private actors; (2) experimentalism; and (3) informality. The confluence of these interconnected trends illuminates an important yet often under‐recognized paradox: that the use of technology in multi‐stakeholder initiatives tends to reduce rather than expand the set of actors, enhancing instead of reducing challenges to participation and transparency, and reinforcing rather than transforming existing forms of power relations. Without recognizing and attempting to address these limits, technology‐led multi‐stakeholder initiatives will remain less effective in addressing the complexity and uncertainty surrounding global sustainability governance. We provide pathways for interrogating the ways that novel technologies are being harnessed to address long‐standing global sustainability issues in manners that foreground key ethical, social and political considerations and the contexts in which they are evolving

Biology of the Mi-2/NuRD Complex in SLAC (Stemness, Longevity/Ageing, and Cancer)

The dynamic chromatin activities of Mi-2/Nucleosome Remodeling and Histone deacetylation (Mi-2/NuRD) complexes in mammals are at the basis of current research on stemness, longevity/ageing, and cancer (4-2-1/SLAC), and have been widely studied over the past decade in mammals and the elegant model organism, Caenorhabditis elegans. Interestingly, a common emergent theme from these studies is that of distinct coregulator-recruited Mi-2/NuRD complexes largely orchestrating the 4-2-1/SLAC within a unique paradigm by maintaining genome stability via DNA repair and controlling three types of transcriptional programs in concert in a number of cellular, tissue, and organism contexts. Thus, the core Mi-2/NuRD complex plays a central role in 4-2-1/SLAC. The plasticity and robustness of 4-2-1/SLAC can be interpreted as modulation of specific coregulator(s) within cell-specific, tissue-specific, stage-specific, or organism-specific niches during stress induction, ie, a functional module and its networking, thereby conferring differential responses to different environmental cues. According to “Occam’s razor”, a simple theory is preferable to a complex one, so this simplified notion might be useful for exploring 4-2-1/SLAC with a holistic view. This thought could also be valuable in forming strategies for future research, and could open up avenues for cancer prevention and antiageing strategies

Dipole Strength Distributions from HIGS Experiments

A series of photon scattering experiments has been performed on the double-beta decay partners 76Ge and 76Se, in order to investigate their dipole response up to the neutron separation threshold. Gamma-ray beams from bremsstrahlung at the S-DALINAC and from Compton-backscattering at HIGS have been used to measure absolute cross sections and parities of dipole excited states, respectively. The HIGS data allows for indirect measurement of averaged branching ratios, which leads to significant corrections in the observed excitation cross sections. Results are compared to statistical calculations, to test photon strength functions and the Axel-Brink hypothesi

Intrinsic resistance to PIM kinase inhibition in AML through p38α-mediated feedback activation of mTOR signaling

Although conventional therapies for acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) are effective in inducing remission, many patients relapse upon treatment. Hence, there is an urgent need for novel therapies. PIM kinases are often overexpressed in AML and DLBCL and are therefore an attractive therapeutic target. However, in vitro experiments have demonstrated that intrinsic resistance to PIM inhibition is common. It is therefore likely that only a minority of patients will benefit from single agent PIM inhibitor treatment. In this study, we performed an shRNA-based genetic screen to identify kinases whose suppression is synergistic with PIM inhibition. Here, we report that suppression of p38α (MAPK14) is synthetic lethal with the PIM kinase inhibitor AZD1208. PIM inhibition elevates reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels, which subsequently activates p38α and downstream AKT/mTOR signaling. We found that p38α inhibitors sensitize hematological tumor cell lines to AZD1208 treatment in vitro and in vivo. These results were validated in ex vivo patient-derived AML cells. Our findings provide mechanistic and translational evidence supporting the rationale to test a combination of p38α and PIM inhibitors in clinical trials for AML and DLBCL