Some economic and socio-cultural factors associated with cerebral malaria among under-fives in Benin City, Nigeria.

Introduction: Risk factors associated with the occurrence of cerebral malaria in under fives are well documented. Outside these acknowledged factors of age, location, and nutrition, other socioeconomic/cultural factors could contribute to the maze of factors determining the occurrence of the morbidity. Methods: To unravel such factors a key informant interview was conducted among resident doctors in paediatrics at the University of Benin Teaching Hospital. Factors identified formed the basis of this cross-sectional, case control study involving 64 cases each of subjects and controls with uncomplicated malaria carried out at the Hospital. Such factors as delay in accessing competent intervention, prolonged use of anti-pyretics, material educational status, use of substandard medication and abdominal scarification as identified were evaluated in the two sets of patients. Others evaluated included mothers’ occupation and health seeking behaviours. Results: Factors found to be significantly associated with occurrence of cerebral malaria were initial treatment in clinics (X2 = 6.43, p = 0.011) presence of fresh abdominal scarification (X2 = 4.30, p=0.038) late presentation (X2 = 32.64; p=0.000) and non- use of mosquito nets (X2 = 9.14; p=0.002). Conclusion/Recommendations: Initial treatment either in clinics or non orthodox facilities contributed significantly to the occurrence of cerebral malaria. The implication of these is that pre- teaching hospital treatments were inadequate in managing the child meant to develop cerebral malaria. Attention should therefore be directed at these areas alongside use of mosquito nets if the objective is to minimise the occurrence of cerebral malaria.Key words: Cerebral malaria, Risk factors, Under fives, Economic factors & Socio-cultural factors

Pyrolysed almond shells used as electrodes in microbial electrolysis cell

9 p.The large cost of components used in microbial electrolysis cell (MEC) reactors represents an important limitation that is delaying the commercial implementation of this technology. In this work, we explore the feasibility of using pyrolysed almond shells (PAS) as a material for producing low-cost anodes for use in MEC systems. This was done by comparing the microbial populations that developed on the surface of PAS bioanodes with those present on the carbon felt (CF) bioanodes traditionally used in MECs. Raw almond shells were pyrolysed at three different temperatures, obtaining the best conductive material at the highest temperature (1000 °C). The behaviour of this material was then verified using a single-chamber cell. Subsequently, the main test was carried out using two-chamber cells and the microbial populations extant on each of the bioanodes were analysed. High-throughput sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene for eubacterial populations was carried out in order to compare the microbial communities attached to each type of electrode. The microbial populations on each electrode were also quantified by real-time polymerase chain reaction (realtime PCR) to determine the amount of bacteria capable of growing on the electrodes’surface. The results indicated that the newly developed PAS bioanodes possess a biofilm similar to those found on the surface of traditional CF electrodes. This research was possible thanks to the financial support of the Junta de Castilla y León, and was financed by European Regional Development Funds (LE320P18). C. B. thanks the Spanish Ministerio de Educación, Cultura y Deporte for support in the form of an FPI fellowship grant (Ref #: BES-2016-078329)

Exchange rate, inflation and macroeconomic performance in the West African Monetary Zone (WAMZ)

The study investigates the effect of changes in the exchange rate on output growth and inflation in the WAMZ economies. It formulates an open-economy general equilibrium model which highlights the interrelationships among real GDP growth, inflation, exchange rate depreciation/ appreciation and money supply growth. Employing quarterly data series for the period 1981Q1 to 2010Q4 for all countries except Ghana (1983Q2 to 2010Q4) and Guinea (1989Q1 to 2010Q4), the study uses the vector autoregressive (VAR) model to estimate the impulse response functions and variance decompositions for inflation and output in order to determine how inflation and output respond to changes in the exchange rate, and what proportion of inflation and output variance can be explained by the exchange rate. The results of the study suggest that exchange rate had significant impact on inflation in all the Member States. The results reveal a negative relationship between real exchange rate and real GDP growth for both Liberia and Sierra Leone, implying that depreciation of the real exchange rates in these countries could lead to output growth. However, the impact of exchange rates on output in The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea and Nigeria though positive, remained weak, which may be partly due to supply side factors as evident from the results. Overall, the key message of the study was that real exchange rate depreciation generates inflationary pressures and impact significantly on output growth. In addition, inflation and growth in the WAMZ are partly driven by structural factors. The policy implication arising from this study is that WAMZ Member States should continue to implement prudent fiscal and monetary policies to achieve and sustain price stability. Monetary, exchange rate and real sector policies should be well knitted to ensure macroeconomic stability. In this regard, Member States should implement sectoral and structural policies that promote food production in order to dampen inflationary pressure

Export performance and exchange rate volatility: Evidence from the WAMZ

This paper examines the relationship between exchange-rate volatility and export performance in the WAMZ countries using quarterly data for the period 1990-2010. The paper utilizes the Engel-Granger Dynamic OLS (DOLS) estimation technique as well as the Generalized Auto Regressive Conditional Heteroskedasticity (GARCH) approach to model the real exchange rate volatility. In conformity with theoretical considerations, the results indicate that increases in the exchange-rate volatility exert a significant negative effect upon export in Liberia, Nigeria and Sierra Leone. While a positive relationship is established in the case of The Gambia, exchange-rate volatility impact on Ghana and Guinea is insignificant. The results also reveal a positive relationship between terms of trade and export performance for all the countries, indicating that improvement in terms of trade trigger increases in export performance in the WAMZ countries. Income from the rest of the world is found to have a positive effect on export performance in the WAMZ countries. The study also finds that real effective exchange rate has a negative impact on export performance in the case of The Gambia, Ghana and Nigeria, while a positive relationship is established in the case of Guinea and Liberia. However, while a positive relationship is revealed for Sierra Leone in the long run, its impact in the short run is negative. A key lesson arising from this study is that trade policy actions aimed at stabilizing the export market are likely to generate uncertain results, at best, if policymakers in the WAMZ countries ignore the stability as well as the level of the real exchange rate. Thus, if policymakers wish to target exports, policies which will ensure stability of the exchange rate should be of outmost importance

Inflation and growth in the WAMZ: Evidence from a threshold analysis

The focus of this paper was to empirically estimate the threshold levels of inflation in the WAMZ, using the conditional least square technique. The study also identified the determinants of growth in the WAMZ. The empirical analysis uses annual data from 1970-2010 for Ghana, Nigeria and Sierra Leone, and 1980-2010 for the Gambia and Guinea. The results showed that there exists a statistically significant long-run negative relationship between inflation and economic growth for the WAMZ countries. Furthermore, the empirical results strongly suggest the existence of threshold level of inflation for the WAMZ countries, beyond which inflation exert a negative effect on growth. The results revealed an inflation rate of 9 percent as the optimal rate of inflation for the WAMZ countries. The results showed that WAMZ countries threshold inflation rates lie within the convergence criterion of maintaining an inflation rate not exceeding 10 percent. The results are useful for policy makers in providing some clue in setting an optimal inflation target. Policy makers should implement policies aimed at achieving the threshold inflation rate that is consistent with higher economic growth. Thus, it is desirable to keep inflation rate at least within the threshold level in member countries, as it may help maintain sustainable growth. A sustainable increase in growth can be achieved by directing monetary policy towards maintaining price stability

Fiscal and monetary policy coordination in the WAMZ: Implications for member states' perfromance on the convergence criteria

The study investigates the level of coordination between the fiscal and monetary authorities in the WAMZ countries and its implications for the attainment of the inflation and fiscal deficit criteria. To achieve this objective, the study utilizes the Set Theoretic Approach (STA) and the vector autoregressive (VAR) modeling to estimate the degree of policy coordination in the Zone. The empirical analysis uses annual data for the period 1980 - 2011. Under the STA, coordination exists when shocks to policy goals elicit prudent policy responses. In the case of the VAR, the strength of coordination is measured by the impulse responses of fiscal and monetary policy variables to innovations in inflation, output gap and exchange rate. The results reveal weak policy coordination in all the WAMZ countries during the period, contributing to the non-compliance with respect to inflation and fiscal deficit criteria. The results of the set theoretic models show that explicit policy coordination scores in the WAMZ countries are less than 50.0 percent, with The Gambia obtaining a coordination score of 46.6 percent, Ghana (34.5), Guinea (31.8), Liberia (37.9), Nigeria (46.6) and Sierra Leone (41.3). Additionally, the monetary authorities in the WAMZ countries tend to implement relatively more prudent policies than the fiscal authorities, except in the case of Guinea, where the two policies are at par in terms of prudence. The results of the impulse response also indicate that there is weak response to shocks induced by different variables. It takes a long period for the variables to convergence to their long-run equilibrium path. The key recommendation is that WAMZ countries should strengthen policy coordination by putting in place formal coordination platforms and institutional arrangements for timely and adequate statistics, binding commitments and effective monitoring and evaluation of policy outcomes

A dilute Cu(Ni) alloy for synthesis of large-area Bernal stacked bilayer graphene using atmospheric pressure chemical vapour deposition

A bilayer graphene film obtained on copper (Cu) foil is known to have a significant fraction of non-Bernal (AB) stacking and on copper/nickel (Cu/Ni) thin films is known to grow over a large-area with AB stacking. In this study, annealed Cu foils for graphene growth were doped with small concentrations of Ni to obtain dilute Cu(Ni) alloys in which the hydrocarbon decomposition rate of Cu will be enhanced by Ni during synthesis of large-area AB-stacked bilayer graphene using atmospheric pressure chemical vapour deposition. The Ni doped concentration and the Ni homogeneous distribution in Cu foil were confirmed with inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry and proton-induced X-ray emission. An electron backscatter diffraction map showed that Cu foils have a single (001) surface orientation which leads to a uniform growth rate on Cu surface in early stages of graphene growth and also leads to a uniform Ni surface concentration distribution through segregation kinetics. The increase in Ni surface concentration in foils was investigated with time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry. The quality of graphene, the number of graphene layers, and the layers stacking order in synthesized bilayer graphene films were confirmed by Raman and electron diffraction measurements. A four point probe station was used to measure the sheet resistance of graphene films. As compared to Cu foil, the prepared dilute Cu(Ni) alloy demonstrated the good capability of growing large-area AB-stacked bilayer graphene film by increasing Ni content in Cu surface layer.The South African Research Chairs Initiative of the Department of Science and Technology and National Research Foundation of South Africa (Grant No. 97994). M. J. Madito acknowledges the financial support from university of Pretoria and NRF for his Ph.D. studies.http://scitation.aip.org/content/aip/journal/japam2016Physic