The Role of Entrepreneurial Financing on National Output: An Empirical Analysis

Due to the magnanimous role of entrepreneurial finance in spurring output thereby fostering economic performance as supported by the intermediation and entrepreneurial financing theory, this study explored the influx of entrepreneurial financing on output generation in Nigeria utilizing secondary sourced data over the period of 1992 to 2014. The study was carried out utilizing analytical tools such as the Unit root/Stationarity test, Ordinary Least Squares Regression, Johansen Co-integration, Error Correction Estimates and Pairwise Granger Causality tests. It was discovered that in both the short and long run relationship, analyses indicated that Micro-Credit (MC) and Commercial Banks Loans to Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (CME) influence on the Gross Domestic Output in the nation had been on the increase. It was discovered that Access to Credit Facilities (ASCF) and Small and Medium Equity Investment (SMIE) played insignificance role in the nation’s performance level. This study discovered the accessibility to fund a major problem. In this light, it was recommended that government ought to, as a matter of criticality, help planned business visionaries to have admittance to the public purse to back them up and provide them easy access to fundamental data identifying with business opportunities, present day innovation, crude materials, business sector, plant and hardware which would empower them to diminish their working expense.Key Words: Micro-Credit, Commercial Bank Loans to the Small and Medium ScaleEnterprises, Access to Credit Facilities, Small and Medium Industry EquityInvestment

Caesarean section-related blood transfusion: risk factors in a private teaching hospital in Nigeria

Background: Comprehensive emergency obstetric care, which includes the life-saving procedure of blood transfusion, is one of the essential components of effective emergency obstetric care that leads to a reduction in maternal mortality. In this study, blood transfusion risk factors were found in patients who had Caesarean deliveries at our facility.Methods: This was a retrospective study of all pregnant women who had caesarean section at Babcock University Teaching Hospital, Nigeria between 2016 and 2020. Their medical records were retrieved and reviewed using pro-forma. Chi square analysis was used to determine significant association between blood transfusion status and independent variables. Information was extracted from medical records using pro-forma.Results: Of 1568 obstetric admissions, there were 1210 deliveries and 369 (30.5%) caesarean sections. Ninety-five women (25.7%) of those that had caesarean sections were transfused. The incidence of blood transfusion was 13.7%. The preoperative packed cell volume, age and caesarean delivery type were significantly associated with blood transfusion status (p<0.05).Conclusions: Preoperative anemia, age and caesarean delivery type were all associated with blood transfusion status. To maximize hemoglobin levels at delivery and to identify high-risk patients, regular antenatal checkups should be given more importance

Financial Market Funds in Nigeria’s Economic Progress: Evidence and Insights From the Manufacturing Sector

Given the need for the financial markets to continuously provide both long and short-term funds required by the manufacturing sector in an economy, this study seeks to ascertain the extent to which Nigeria's manufacturing sector is influenced by the classified financial market funds over the period 1981 to 2015. Secondary data was sourced from the Statistical Bulletin of the Central Bank of Nigeria and processed through the employment of statistical techniques, which include Multiple Regression, Stationarity, Johansen Co-integration, Error Correction and Granger Causality. The results provide evidence of valuable short and long-run interrelationships between contributions of the manufacturing sector to Nigeria's gross domestic product and three out of the four components of capital and money market funds employed in the study. Further, the Granger Causality results indicate two (2 no) unidirectional causalities which flow from manufacturing sector's output to (i) bank credits to the private sector and (ii) government securities. The study concludes that (i) most of the financial market components largely operate independent of the Nigeria's manufacturing sector, and (ii) where there is any significant relationship at all, the financial market components largely tend to be dependent on the manufacturing sectors operations. On the whole, it is recommended that (i) deposit money banks should set aside a minimum of 20 percent of their loanable funds for on-lending to the manufacturing sector which scheme should be wholly guaranteed by the Central Bank of Nigeria in order to boost the operations of Nigeria’s manufacturing sector, (ii) the state should invest more in infrastructural facilities development in order to reduce cost of production in Nigeria’s manufacturing sector. These will hopefully enhance the contribution of the sector to Nigeria's GDP. Keywords: Financial Market Funds, Manufacturing Output, Gross Domestic Product

Experimentally characterized embedded Mckibben muscle as a nastic material for biomedical applications

This study presents the experimental results that characterize a nastic sheet material’s performance. We defined nastic sheet as a McKibben muscle designed from a foundation that would be embedded as an array in an elastomer matrix. The goal is to be able to utilize the embedded McKibben sheets in the biomedical industry as an improvement to the synthetic devices and/or processes. One mechanism that might produce these improvements is to mimic the biological materials that form functional organs, biological structures, and active tissues. Linking human technology and natural structures is and will continue to be important to society for several reasons. It would improve: (1) the lifestyle of humans in regards to artificial parts that mimic human parts (which will allow us to live longer), (2) artificial limb functionality, and (3) comfort and aesthetics. The objective is focused on characterizing and evaluating McKibben muscles as an embedded muscle sheet by building McKibben muscles and testing them alone and in sheets with one, two, three, and five muscles. The sheets would be known as a single, double, triple and quintuple embedded sheet. Another objective is to determine the performance penalty that embedding puts on the material. The experiments performed used several different approaches, such as analytical models, tensile test analysis, and prototype construction of the specimens. All specimens were designed to have a constant final length of 120mm, being embedded in a polyurethane matrix. We characterized the fundamental performance of a McKibben muscle and each specific embedded sheet. We measured the specimens’ work-density and quantified the inactive matrix’s impact on work-density. Based on the results, several improvements were suggested on the fabrication of the specimens. The experiment shows positive potential outcome that could be utilized in the biomedical field, but the results would improve with the suggestions provided in the study. A sample of the results - the actual work-density for both the single and doubleembedded sheets showed an increase to 7.82% and 2.96% consecutively. Once the specimens are removed from the mold, the McKibben muscle automatically tries to retract to its initial state while the polyurethane matrix tries to stay at its initial state

Potential Health Risk Assessment of Bioaccumulation of Heavy Metals in Freshwater Organisms from Ojo River, Lagos, Nigeria

This study investigated potential health risk associated with heavy metal bioaccumulation in freshwater organisms in Ojo River, Lagos, Nigeria. Liver, gills and muscle from fish samples and muscle and exoskeleton from crab samples were analysed for concentration of Cd, Cr, Zn, Pb, Ni and Cu using Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer after digestion of samples. Generally, heavy metal concentration in water samples from different locations in Ojo River did not exceed WHO limits. Concentration of Pb, Cu, Zn and Cr in tissues of M. niger and L. campechanus shows high bioaccumulation of heavy metals. Heavy metals bioaccumulated more in liver &gt; muscle &gt; gills in both fish samples. Ni and Cd were not detected in the two fish species. Similarly, Pb, Cu and Ni were found in muscles and exoskeleton of C. pagurus and S. serrate at quantities higher than WHO limits. Zinc was detected only in muscle and not exoskeleton of both crab samples, while Cr was found only in exoskeleton of C. pagurus and Ni was not detected in all crab species. Estimated daily intake (EDIs) for Pb, Cu, Zn and Cr in M. niger and L. campechanus and for Pb, Cu and Ni in C. pagurus and S. serrate were higher than the oral reference doses. Target Hazard Quotient (THQ) for heavy metals were also extremely high. Significantly high bioaccumulation of heavy metals in freshwater organisms from Ojo River calls for serious actions because it is a major source of freshwater foods for residents of Lagos

Prevalence of malnutrition among settled pastoral Fulani children in Southwest Nigeria

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>There is a dearth of information on the health of pastoral Fulani children living in southwestern Nigeria. These are fully settled pastoralists whose economy are centred on cattle and farming. In other to monitor and plan appropriate nutritional intervention for their children, a cross-sectional study was carried out to determine the prevalence of malnutrition of pastoral Fulani children.</p> <p>Findings</p> <p>Fulani's children aged 6 months to 15 years, living in 61 settlements in Kwara, Ogun and Oyo States in Southwestern Nigeria participated in the study. Heights and weights of 164 girls and 167 boys were measured. Their anthropometric indices, height-for-age (HA), weight-for-height (WH), and weight-for-age (WA) Z-scores determined. The prevalence of stunting (HAZ < -2), wasting (WHZ < -2) and underweight (WAZ < -2) was 38.7%, 13.6%, and 38.7%, respectively when compared to the reference NCHS/WHO standard used for defining stunting, wasting and underweight. Boys were more malnourished than the girls were, but this was not significant (stunting: χ²= 0.36; df = 1; P = 0.54); (underweight: χ²= 1.10; df = 1; P = 0.29); and (wasting: χ²= 0.00; df = 1; P = 0.98) The mean of Z-scores of Height-for-age, Weight-for-age and Weight-for-height in children were -1.502, -1.634 and -0.931 respectively. The SD was 1.52, 1.09 and 1.20 respectively. Using WHO Malnutrition Classification systems, 38.7% of the children were found to be malnourished.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>These results indicate high prevalence of malnutrition among settled pastoral Fulani children, possibly due to changes in food habits and lifestyle occasion by the transition from nomadic to sedentary living. We suggest the inclusion of Fulani's settlements in nutritional intervention for these areas.</p

MEASUREMENT AND ANALYSIS OF RADIO FREQUENCY ENERGY AND SPECIFIC ABSORPTION RATE FROM GLOBAL SYSTEM FOR MOBILE COMMUNICATIONS IN FUNAAB, OGUN STATE, NIGERIA

This work measured and analyzed the Radio Frequency (RF) power densities to determine the absorption rate on human body from the four available 900 MHz Global System for Mobile communication (GSM) base stations, at some selected points in the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta (FUNAAB), Nigeria.ª¤? Measurements were conducted using Frequency-selective spectrum analyzer (Nokia 6800 Network Drive Tester) to determine the RF Power Densities (S), Electric Field Intensities (E) and the Specific Absorption Rates (SAR), using Airtel Base station as reference sample point. Standard Units values of the measured variables were obtained using standard mathematics equations. Out of ten (10) selected sampling points the maximum RF exposure was obtained at COLENG upstairs with its the power density equal 15.2 ª¤?W/m2 which is 3.7 x 10-4% of the maximum allowable value of the maximum exposure at 900 MHz. The recorded highest electric field intensities was 75.7 x 10-3 V/m, which is 0.18% of that specified by the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP) maximum public exposure levels for 900 MHz. The highest obtained SAR value was 4.2635 x 10-3 W/kg which is 5.329% of the maximum recommended exposure level for the head region and brain tissue at 900 MHz. The results from this study are useful sources of environmental information and database to the FUNAAB communityª¤

Falling Standard of Engineering Education in Nigeria_ Causes and Suggestions

ABSTRACT A nation&apos;s growth can be hinged on the functionality of the infrastructure, which is a direct index of efficiency of the human and material resources and invested capital. The bulk of the maintenance and development are direct duties of engineering graduate who are always criticized when failure occurred. Increased rate of failure in engineering infrastructure in Nigeria within the walls of economic reforms called for examining the status of engineering education in the country. The approaches used in carrying out the study include review of engineering education in Nigeria, appraisal of government policies, and use of structured questionnaires to determine the causes and remedy for falling standard of engineering education in Nigeria. This paper concluded that the training of engineering graduates are deficient and suggested the establishment of post graduate college of Engineering as a strategy to fulfill the required training. The advantages of this approach include improved training, reliability and reduction in failure of infrastructure and international acceptability

PRICE TREND ANALYSIS OF SELECTED FOOD GRAINS IN OGUN STATE, NIGERIA (1988-2012)

The study examined the price trend of some selected food grains in Ogun State, Nigeria, using descriptive statistics, graphical representation and growth model to analyze its dynamic behaviour over the period of 1988-2012. The study was based on secondary data obtained from Ogun State Agricultural Development Programme for the period (1988-2012) and it covered the rural and urban monthly retail prices of three (3) food grains viz: maize (white and yellow), rice and cowpea (white and brown). Results of analysis revealed a consistent long-term movement or change in the prices of the food grains for both markets.  While price fluctuation was observed more with maize and cowpea, minimal adjustments were observed in rice. Exponential regression analysis showed a positive significant coefficient i.e. an upward trend in prices of both rural and urban markets with a significant F-statistics (p&lt;0.01). The highest growth rate was seen in white cowpea in the urban market (i.e. 4.78%) while the least growth rate was in white maize in the rural market (i.e. 3.50%).Â

Electrochemical immunosensor based on polythionine/gold nanoparticles for the determination of Aflatoxin B1

An aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) electrochemical immunosensor was developed by the immobilisation of aflatoxin B1-bovine serum albumin (AFB1-BSA) conjugate on a polythionine (PTH)/gold nanoparticles (AuNP)-modified glassy carbon electrode (GCE). The surface of the AFB1-BSA conjugate was covered with horseradish peroxidase (HRP), in order to prevent non-specific binding of the immunosensors with ions in the test solution. The AFB1 immunosensor exhibited a quasi-reversible electrochemistry as indicated by a cyclic voltammetric (CV) peak separation (ΔEp) value of 62 mV. The experimental procedure for the detection of AFB1 involved the setting up of a competition between free AFB1 and the immobilised AFB1-BSA conjugate for the binding sites of free anti-aflatoxin B1 (anti-AFB1) antibody. The immunosensor’s differential pulse voltammetry (DPV) responses (peak currents) decreased as the concentration of free AFB1 increased within a dynamic linear range (DLR) of 0.6 - 2.4 ng/mL AFB1 and a limit of detection (LOD) of 0.07 ng/mL AFB1. This immunosensing procedure eliminates the need for enzyme-labeled secondary antibodies normally used in conventional ELISA–based immunosensors