The Short and Long-Run Implications of Budget Deficit on Economic Growth in Nigeria (1980-2011)

This research work investigated the short and long run implications of budget deficit on economic growth in Nigeria. The sample study comprises of time-series data covering period of 1980-2011. Regression analysis is conducted to ascertain and affirm the impact of Budget Deficit on the Economic growth in Nigeria. The result from the OLS regression analysis indicated that a negative relationship exist between budget deficit and economic growth. Johansen cointegration technique was used to investigate the long run effect of budget deficit. It was found that there is a significant long-run relationship between budget deficit and economic growth in Nigeria.  The error correction model revealed that budget deficit shows a negative relationship with gross domestic product while gross capital formation (investment) shows a positive relationship with GDP. The study recommends that budget deficit should be financed appropriately to help promote economic growth in the nation

Empirical Investigation into Industrial Relations and National Productivity in Nigeria

This paper investigated the impact of the poor industrial relations on the National productivity in Nigeria. The paper is a contribution to the often debated issue of privatization of the proliferated public parastatals. In the study, time series data over the period 1970 – 2004 was used and the modified Least Square was employed as analytical tool. The study found that trade disputes and work stoppages negatively affect the growth of national productivity; proxied by per capita income. Evidence also suggests that the shock received by the economy through trade disputes is mostly felt in subsequent year – a phenomenon known as J – Curve. The policy implication of the study was that government should seek possible ways to improve workers productivity especially in those establishments and parastatals which can not be privatized. Keywords: Industrial Relations, Productivity, Nigerian Econom

Evaluation of two MiniSTR loci mutation events in five Father-Mother-Child trios of Yoruba origin

The robustness of short tandem repeats for use in forensic and paternity depends on their high polymorphism and mutation rate. This study tried to determine the event of mutation of two miniSTR loci in the Yoruba population. Blood samples were collected from five father-motherchild trios of Yoruba origin. Two DNA extraction methods, an homemade method and Zymogen gDNA kit were tested for yield and purity for use in the STR assay. The DNA were amplified and resolved on 4% Agarose gel. The first DNA extraction method yielded an average DNA concentration of 1399 ng/μl and while the Kit yielded 984.1 ng/μl; absorbence quotient at 260/280 of 1.78 and 1.55 respectively. Locus D1GATA113 was detected in the father and mother of two families; A and C. D5S2500 was detected only in the male parent (father) in family D. DNA extracted using any of the two methods in this study is appriopriate for use in STR mutation assay but the PCR condition for mutation miniSTR loci among the yoruba still requires extensive optimization.Keywords: DNA extraction Methods, miniSTRs, mutation, Yorub

Modeling Socioeconomic Factors Affecting Age at Marriage among females in Kogi State, Nigeria

This paper is aimed at determining the effect of socioeconomic factors such as cultural background, level of education and religion in relation to age at marriage among women in Kogi State Nigeria. The survey area is made up of diverse ethnic groups with three major languages. The study reveals that education is an important factor which increases the age at marriage in the State. The study equally proved that religion and cultural background does not affect age at marriage among women in Kogi State, Nigeria. A Saturated one-way and two-way model was fitted to reveal the behavioral pattern of the distribution. Key words: Socioeconomic, Modeling, Marriage, Saturated, Analysis

Statistical Analysis of Some Socioeconomic Factors Affecting Age at Marriage among Males in Kogi State, Nigeria

This study is aimed at investigating the relationship between age at marriage and educational attainment, religion and cultural background among males in some parts of South Western Nigeria. A saturated one-way and two-way model was proposed for the study. Level of educational attainment and religion was established to have significant relationship with age at marriage while senatorial differences do not have any statistical significant relationship with age at marriage in the area surveyed. Key words: Model, Saturated, Marriage, Senatorial, One-way, Two-way, Effect

Hypogonadism among obese type 2 diabetic men in South-Western Nigeria

Background: Studies have shown that hypogonadism is closely related to the development of Type 2 Diabetes. This study aimed to assess  hypogonadism among type 2 diabetic and obese male patients in Southwest Nigeria.Methods: One hundred and twenty men consisting of thirty obese diabetics, thirty non-obese diabetics, thirty obese non-diabetics and thirty non-obese non-diabetics, were included in the study. Participants were interviewed to obtain data on biodata, reproductive characteristics, and  anthropometry. Venous Blood was collected for the determination of fasting plasma Glucose, glycated haemoglobin, and reproductive hormonal levels.Results: The prevalence of hypogonadism in this study was 20.8%. The mean age of all the participants was 43.39 ± 5.21, most men being in the 40-44 years age group. In this age group, over a third (40%) of the men had low testosterone. Out of the 60 participants who were diabetic, 18 (30%) had low testosterone, two-third of whom (66.7%) were obese. Mean testosterone was significantly lower in obese diabetics when compared with non-obese diabetics. The mean testosterone and FSH were significantly lower in obese non-diabetics as well. Both diabetic and non-diabetic groups had significantly higher estrogen in the obese participants, than in the non-obese.Conclusion: In conclusion, hypogonadism is a common finding among diabetic men, and it occurs in higher frequency with coexisting obesity. Hence, a holistic approach in the treatment of male patients with hypogonadism, type 2 diabetics and obesity should be considered, in order to safeguard their reproductive health. Key Words: Hypogonadism, obesity, FSH, LH, testosterone, Nigeria

Recurrent De Novo NAHR Reciprocal Duplications in the ATAD3 Gene Cluster Cause a Neurogenetic Trait with Perturbed Cholesterol and Mitochondrial Metabolism.

Recent studies have identified both recessive and dominant forms of mitochondrial disease that result from ATAD3A variants. The recessive form includes subjects with biallelic deletions mediated by non-allelic homologous recombination. We report five unrelated neonates with a lethal metabolic disorder characterized by cardiomyopathy, corneal opacities, encephalopathy, hypotonia, and seizures in whom a monoallelic reciprocal duplication at the ATAD3 locus was identified. Analysis of the breakpoint junction fragment indicated that these 67 kb heterozygous duplications were likely mediated by non-allelic homologous recombination at regions of high sequence identity in ATAD3A exon 11 and ATAD3C exon 7. At the recombinant junction, the duplication allele produces a fusion gene derived from ATAD3A and ATAD3C, the protein product of which lacks key functional residues. Analysis of fibroblasts derived from two affected individuals shows that the fusion gene product is expressed and stable. These cells display perturbed cholesterol and mitochondrial DNA organization similar to that observed for individuals with severe ATAD3A deficiency. We hypothesize that the fusion protein acts through a dominant-negative mechanism to cause this fatal mitochondrial disorder. Our data delineate a molecular diagnosis for this disorder, extend the clinical spectrum associated with structural variation at the ATAD3 locus, and identify a third mutational mechanism for ATAD3 gene cluster variants. These results further affirm structural variant mutagenesis mechanisms in sporadic disease traits, emphasize the importance of copy number analysis in molecular genomic diagnosis, and highlight some of the challenges of detecting and interpreting clinically relevant rare gene rearrangements from next-generation sequencing data

Persistent northward North Atlantic tropical cyclone track migration over the past five centuries

Accurately predicting future tropical cyclone risk requires understanding the fundamental controls on tropical cyclone dynamics. Here we present an annually-resolved 450-year reconstruction of western Caribbean tropical cyclone activity developed using a new coupled carbon and oxygen isotope ratio technique in an exceptionally well-dated stalagmite from Belize. Western Caribbean tropical cyclone activity peaked at 1650 A.D., coincident with maximum Little Ice Age cooling, and decreased gradually until the end of the record in 1983. Considered with other reconstructions, the new record suggests that the mean track of Cape Verde tropical cyclones shifted gradually north-eastward from the western Caribbean toward the North American east coast over the last 450 years. Since ~1870 A.D., these shifts were largely driven by anthropogenic greenhouse gas and sulphate aerosol emissions. Our results strongly suggest that future emission scenarios will result in more frequent tropical cyclone impacts on the financial and population centres of the northeastern United States

First Steps towards Underdominant Genetic Transformation of Insect Populations

The idea of introducing genetic modifications into wild populations of insects to stop them from spreading diseases is more than 40 years old. Synthetic disease refractory genes have been successfully generated for mosquito vectors of dengue fever and human malaria. Equally important is the development of population transformation systems to drive and maintain disease refractory genes at high frequency in populations. We demonstrate an underdominant population transformation system in Drosophila melanogaster that has the property of being both spatially self-limiting and reversible to the original genetic state. Both population transformation and its reversal can be largely achieved within as few as 5 generations. The described genetic construct {Ud} is composed of two genes; (1) a UAS-RpL14.dsRNA targeting RNAi to a haploinsufficient gene RpL14 and (2) an RNAi insensitive RpL14 rescue. In this proof-of-principle system the UAS-RpL14.dsRNA knock-down gene is placed under the control of an Actin5c-GAL4 driver located on a different chromosome to the {Ud} insert. This configuration would not be effective in wild populations without incorporating the Actin5c-GAL4 driver as part of the {Ud} construct (or replacing the UAS promoter with an appropriate direct promoter). It is however anticipated that the approach that underlies this underdominant system could potentially be applied to a number of species. Figure