Nexus between Foreign Remittances and Economic Growth in Nigeria: Role of the Financial Sector

In recent times, the economic growth literature is becoming more interested in the macroeconomic impacts of foreign remittances. This focus could be because foreign remittances now constitute the largest source of foreign capital flows for developing countries next to foreign direct investment (FDI). To this end, the present study analyzed the possible role of the financial sector in the nexus between foreign remittances and economic growth in Nigeria over the period of 1981 to 2015. To circumvent the possible endogeneity problem among foreign remittances, financial development and economic growth, we employed the two-stage least squares (2SLS) technique. Unlike the previous findings, we offered new evidence that the complementarity or substitutability between foreign remittances and financial development in promoting Nigeria’s economic growth depends on the indicators of financial development used. We confirmed the complementary hypothesis in the case of the quantitative indicators of financial development, while we validated the substitutability hypothesis in favour of its qualitative measure. Both migrant workers and their beneficiaries should be encouraged to make use of banks so that foreign remittances could be made available to finance genuine investments. This could be possibly achieved through boosting the confidence of migrant workers in the domestic financial system and by raising the deposit rate so as to entice the beneficiaries to save a large chunk of remittances received

Factors Determining Choice of Conventional Labour Among Yam Producers in Benue State of Nigeria

The present research empirically determined the factors that influenced the choice of combined labour for efficient yam marketable surplus in Benue State of Nigeria. 2016 cropping season cross-sectional data elicited by structured questionnaire complemented with interview schedule from a total of 120 farmers chosen through a multi-stage sampling technique was used. The instruments used for data analysis were descriptive and inferential statistics. The empirical evidences showed that decision for choice of efficiently combined labour that is supplemented by paid labour for efficient yam marketable surplus was affected by low yam productivity and low income which largely owed to poor proceeds from product marketing. Gender stereotype due to culture and religious barriers affected women access and control to productive access, thus hinders women active involved in yam entrepreneurship as they cannot carter for paid labour. Thus, it can be inferred that utilization of combined labour was affected by poor yield, gender stereotype and poor economic capital. Therefore, for farmers to be able to harness combined labour efficiently for a good marketable surplus, thus a better wellbeing for farmers, farmers need technical guided on potential yield; provision of buffer stocks for a remunerative price normalization; and, breaking the jinx of gender inequality through tacit sensitization in the studied area

Using a Hybrid Lecture and Small Group Standardized Patient Case to Teach the Inclusive Sexual History and Transgender Patient Care

Background: Previous negative experiences with the medical community often leave transgender people reluctant to seek needed medical treatment and preventive care. Inadequate training in transgender healthcare during all stages of medical education promotes the disparities experienced by this community. Undergraduate medical education is uniquely positioned to address these disparities by better preparing future physicians to provide inclusive care to transgender patients; however, curricular coverage of these topics remains inadequate. Methods: The second-year clinical skills course at the Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine includes a hybrid workshop consisting of a one-hour lecture about the components of an inclusive sexual history, followed by a 1.5 hour, faculty-facilitated small group session during which students interview a standardized patient playing the role of a transgender man with abdominal pain. During the session, students were provided with an optional, anonymous pre- and post-intervention survey assessing the impact of this workshop. Results: After the session, there was a statistically significant increase in students’ knowledge of the Create your own automated PDFs with JotForm PDF Editor 1 components of an inclusive sexual history, in the number of students who felt that their medical training had effectively prepared them to provide medical care for transgender patients, and in those who reported feeling comfortable gathering a sexual history from a transgender patient. Students overall reported a high level of satisfaction with the session and the standardized patient case. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that the hybrid-learning format of the sexual history workshop effectively improved students’ knowledge and confidence regarding transgender healthcare and sexual history taking. Although our case was acted by well-coached cis-gender standardized patients without the lived experiences of being transgender, students still reported that it provided a realistic opportunity to explore the nuances of transgender healthcare. While we demonstrated value in using cis-gender standardized patients, future directions of this project will explore the recruitment of transgender standardized patients.https://jdc.jefferson.edu/sexandgenderhealth/1027/thumbnail.jp

Epidemiological Interactions between Urogenital and Intestinal Human Schistosomiasis in the Context of Praziquantel Treatment across Three West African Countries

© 2015 Knowles et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. The attached file is the published version of the article

Effects of bone particle on the properties and microstructure of polypropylene/bone ash particulate composites

The effects of uncarbonized (fresh) and carbonized bone particles on the microstructure and properties of polypropylene composites have been studied. The addition of the bone particles ranges from 5 to 25 wt% in uncarbonized and carbonized forms in the polypropylene matrix. The physical and mechanical properties were used as criteria for the evaluation of the composites. Microstructures of the composites were assessed with scanning electron microscopy (SEM/EDS). The results revealed that the addition of carbonized bone particles reinforcement has superior properties than uncarbonized bone particles composite based materials with an increase in the compressive strength, hardness values, tensile strength and flexural strength by 53%, 45% and 35% respectively, and a decrease in the % elongation and impact energy by 75% and 32%, respectively at 25 wt% carbonized bone, with 28% increase in tensile strength at 15 wt% carbonized bone addition. The increase in strength and hardness values was attributed to the distribution of hard phases of bone particles in the ductile polypropylene matrix