An Interactive Effect of Human Capital Variables and Economic Growth in Nigeria

The study examines the interactive effects of the relationship between human capital investment components and economic growth in Nigeria for the period of 1986 – 2014. Although, various studies have focused on the relationship between human capital and economic growth all over the world but there is still a missing gap on the joint influence of human capital investment components on economic growth particularly in Nigeria. The study employs secondary annual data on education expenditure; health expenditure; real gross domestic product and gross capital formation obtain from the Central Bank Statistical bulletin, 2014 and analyze using Fully Modified Ordinary Least Squares (FMOLS) technique. The results of the study show that there is positive and significant relationship between the interactive effects of human capital components and growth in Nigeria. The study educates the government and policy makers on the importance of policy mix in terms of how human capital development enhances growth in Nigeria than embarking on the use of one policy instrument. The paper therefore contributes to knowledge by providing information on the interactive effects of education and health on growth in Nigeria

Uncertainty of Output Gap and Monetary policy Making in Nigeria

A major challenge of monetary policy is the attainment of sustainable output level but in setting the optimal monetary policy rate information of the output gap but how uncertainty of the gap affects the path of monetary policy rate is crucial for policy use. The investigation of this phenomenon in Nigeria was mostly concerned with how monetary policy affects output. In view of the dearth of studies on uncertainty and monetary policy in Nigeria, this paper investigates the effect of output gap uncertainty on monetary policy rate in Nigeria-1991Q1-2014Q4. The paper relies on the New Keynesian economics and employs the GARCH-GMM econometric technique for analyses. Evidence from the study shows that real output gap and inflation uncertainty are statistically significant with estimated values of        respectively. The coefficient of the real output variable is significant with a coefficient estimate of    while we found no strong evidence to support the effect of inflation on monetary policy rate.  The inference from our findings is that monetary policy is less responsive to uncertainty of real output gap. We therefore recommend that the Central Bank of Nigeria should consider uncertainty of both inflation and output variables when setting the policy rate.&nbsp

A rapid and systematic review of the effectiveness of temozolomide for the treatment of recurrent malignant glioma

A rapid and systematic review of the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of temozolomide in the treatment of recurrent malignant glioma was commissioned by the NHS HTA Programme on behalf of NICE. The full report has been published elsewhere. This paper summarizes the results for the effectiveness of temozolomide in people with recurrent glioblastoma multiforme and anaplastic astrocytoma. The review was conducted using standard systematic review methodology involving a systematic literature search, quality assessment of included studies with systematic data extraction and data synthesis. One randomized controlled trial and four uncontrolled studies were identified for inclusion. The key results were that temozolomide may increase progression-free survival but has no significant impact on overall length of survival. The main effect from temozolomide may have been in those patients who had not received any prior chemotherapy regimens, however further randomized controlled trials are required to confirm this suggestion. Temozolomide appears to produce few serious adverse effects and may also have a positive impact on health-related quality of life. Overall the evidence-base is weak and few strong conclusions can be drawn regarding the effectiveness of temozolomide. Large, well-designed randomized controlled trails conducted in a wider patient population are needed

A phase II study of temozolomide vs. procarbazine in patients with glioblastoma multiforme at first relapse.

A randomized, multicentre, open-label, phase II study compared temozolomide (TMZ), an oral second-generation alkylating agent, and procarbazine (PCB) in 225 patients with glioblastoma multiforme at first relapse. Primary objectives were to determine progression-free survival (PFS) at 6 months and safety for TMZ and PCB in adult patients who failed conventional treatment. Secondary objectives were to assess overall survival and health-related quality of life (HRQL). TMZ was given orally at 200 mg/m(2)/day or 150 mg/m(2)/day (prior chemotherapy) for 5 days, repeated every 28 days. PCB was given orally at 150 mg/m(2)/day or 125 mg/m(2)/day (prior chemotherapy) for 28 days, repeated every 56 days. HRQL was assessed using the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire (EORTC QLQ-C30 [+3]) and the Brain Cancer Module 20 (BCM20). The 6-month PFS rate for patients who received TMZ was 21%, which met the protocol objective. The 6-month PFS rate for those who received PCB was 8% (P = 0.008, for the comparison). Overall PFS significantly improved with TMZ, with a median PFS of 12.4 weeks in the TMZ group and 8.32 weeks in the PCB group (P = 0.0063). The 6-month overall survival rate for TMZ patients was 60% vs. 44% for PCB patients (P = 0.019). Freedom from disease progression was associated with maintenance of HRQL, regardless of treatment received. TMZ had an acceptable safety profile; most adverse events were mild or moderate in severity

Sterile neutrino dark matter in B−LB-L extension of the standard model and galactic 511 keV line

Sterile right-handed neutrinos can be naturally embedded in a low scale gauged $U(1)_{B-L}$ extension of the standard model. We show that, within a low reheating scenario, such a neutrino is an interesting candidate for dark matter. We emphasize that if the neutrino mass is of order of MeV, then it accounts for the measured dark matter relic density and also accommodates the observed flux of 511 keV photons from the galactic bulge.Comment: 10 pages, 1 figure, references added, final version appeared in JCA

Health-related quality of life in glioma patients in China

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Health-related quality of life (HRQOL) has been increasingly emphasized in cancer patients. There are no reports comparing baseline HRQOL of different subgroups of glioma patients prior to surgery.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>HRQOL assessments by the standard Chinese version of the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Core Questionnaire 30 (EORTC QLQ-C30, version 3.0), the Mini-Mental State Examination and Karnofsky Performance Status were obtained from glioma patients prior to surgery.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Ninety-two pathologically confirmed glioma patients were recruited. There were 84.8% patients with emotional impairment, 75% with social and cognitive impairment, 70.7% with physical impairment, and 50% with role impairment. Eighty-two percent of patients reported fatigue symptoms, 72.8% reported pain, 50% reported appetite loss, 39.1% reported insomnia, and 36.9% reported nausea/vomiting, whereas other symptoms (dyspnea, diarrhea, constipation) in the QLQ-C30 were reported by fewer than 30% of patients. Fatigue and pain symptoms and all "functioning" scales were strongly correlated with global health status/quality of life (QoL). Fatigue was strongly related to all functioning scales, pain, appetite loss, and global health status/QoL. No difference in baseline HRQOL prior to surgery was reported between females and males, among different lesion locations, or between normal- and abnormal-cognition subgroups of glioma patients. Age, KPS, WHO grade, and tumor recurrence significantly affected HRQOL in glioma patients.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>These data provided the baseline HRQOL in glioma patients prior to surgery in China. Most pre-surgery glioma patients indicated emotional, social, cognitive, physical, and role impairment. Fatigue, pain, appetite loss, insomnia, and nausea/vomiting were common in these patients. The fatigue and pain symptoms and all types of functioning strongly affected global health status/QoL. Old age, worse performance status, WHO grade IV and tumor recurrence had deleterious effects on HRQOL.</p