THE STRATEGIC PLANNING PROCESS: THE LINK BETWEEN MISSION STATEMENT AND ORGANIZATIONAL PERFORMANCE

The strategic planning process requires development of a mission statement for the organization. The mission statement incorporates the organization’s purpose and vision for the future. A nineitem mission statement evaluation scale was developed to measure the completeness and quality of an organization’s mission statement. Further, the link between the completeness and quality of an organization’s mission statement and the organization’s financial performance was investigated. Results indicate a significant positive relationship between the completeness and quality of the mission statement and the organization’s financial performance. Strategic managers can expect that the result of improving their organization’s mission statement will be improved financial performance of the enterprise

Investigating Government Sectoral Spending and Economic Growth: Empirical Evidence from Nigeria

This paper investigated the empirical relationship between government sectoral spending and economic growth in Nigeria following cointegration approach and ending with error correction framework. The result of the study confirms a longrun relationship between GDP and its explanatory variables which are government expenditures on Education, Health and Agriculture.  The explanatory variables conform to apriori expectation and were individually statistically significant in explaining changes in GDP. This implies that government expenditures on Education, Health, and Agriculture in Nigeria has been productive over the period covered.  Based on these findings, the study recommends among other things, that there is the need for improved and committed funding of the Educational, Health and Agricultural sectors for a more vibrant economy. Keywords: Government Expenditure, Stabilization and Economic Growt

Determination of haptoglobin, hemoglobin genotypes and malaria incidence in Nigerian breast cancer patients

Breast cancer is the second leading cause of cancer morbidity and mortality globally. Cancer chemotherapy commonly result in hemolysis, which impacts patient overall health. There is a need to determine genetic factors associated with hemolysis in breast cancer patients. Haptoglobin (Hp), a polymorphic protein plays important role in hemoglobin clearance and disease predisposition, but has been reported to have no prognostic factor in breast cancer. However, understanding selection pressure that drives certain gene mutations in specific populations and how it confers protection or susceptibility to diseases is crucial. In Nigeria, breast cancer, malaria infection and sickle cell disease are prevalent and associated with hemolysis, but little is known of their association in breast cancer patients. This study aims to determine relationship between haptoglobin, hemoglobin genotypes and submicroscopic malaria co‐morbidity in clinically diagnosed breast cancer and healthy Nigerian women. DNA was extracted from blood using standard methods. Haptoglobin 2 and hemoglobin genotypes were detected by RFLP‐PCR, while Plasmodium falciparum infection was detected by primer specific amplification of plasmodium cytochrome oxidase III gene (cox III) in 75 clinically diagnosed breast cancer (BC) and 287 healthy women (control; HC). Proportions were determined and compared in the two groups and test of association was carried out with significance level set at P <0.05. In BC groups, 3 (4.1%) of 72 Hp 2‐2 phenotypes was detected compared to a significantly higher occurrence of 48 (16.7%) of 287 in HC group (p <0.05). Conversely, malaria infection was detected in 68 (94.4%) BC versus 255 (88.9%) in HC group. A similar proportion had Hp deletions (2 in BC and 8 in HC group). There was a low prevalence of hemoglobin S genotype in the entire population and relative risk for Hp 2‐2 polymorphism in hemoglobin genotypes was not significantly different. In conclusion, this study reports in breast cancer and healthy women an inverse correlation of haptoglobin (Hp2‐2) genotype with malaria incidence in southwest Nigeria. The results imply a possible protection against hemolysis and can play significant role in determining choice of cancer therapy for good patient treatment outcomes

ABH secretor status of students in the college of medical sciences, University of Maiduguri by inhibition method

Background: ABH blood group and secretor status of individuals are inherited independently although both may be associated with diabetes, autoimmune diseases and heart diseases. Aim: A cross-sectional study was employed to determine the ABH blood group and secretor status of students in the University of Maiduguri. Methodology: Two ml blood and 3ml saliva were collected from each study participants and were assayed independently. The ABO blood group and secretor status were determined by tube method and haemagglutination inhibition technique respectively. Results: A total of 235 apparently healthy students of the College of Medical Sciences participated in this study. Of the 235 participants, 97.4% are ABH secretors whereas 2.6% are ABH non-secretors. One hundred and nineteen 119(50.6%) of the subjects are males, of which 115 are secretors while 4 are non-secretors. Among the 116(49.4%) females who participated, 114 are secretors while 2 are non-secretors. The distribution of ABO blood group among the subjects shows that 21.3% were group A, 20.8% group B, 8.5% group AB and 49.4% group O. Conclusion: In this study, Blood group O is the commonest while AB was the least among the subjects. Overall, there are more secretors than non-secretors among the subjects. However, the study suggests that the ability to secrete ABH substances is independent of ABO blood group genes. The analysis also helps in revealing the prevalence of secretor status among the students. With the associations of disease and secretors, the secretor status of individuals may play a role in the diagnosis and management of diseases. Keywords: ABO blood group; secretor status; ABH antigen

Environmental Susceptibility and Resistance to Coronavirus Disease-19 (COVID-19): A Review

It is believed that certain environmental factors modulate coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19). This review outlines the role of environmental factors in COVID-19 infectivity, spread, and severity. Relevant articles were retrieved from Google Scholar, SpringerLink, and Scopus, then pooled and duplicates removed with EndNote software. Available information reveals that temperature, relative humidity (RH), sunlight, pollutants, and population density modulate COVID-19 infectivity and pathogenicity. COVID-19 spread is promoted by low temperature (&lt; 25 °C) and RH (&lt; 40%), whereas it is inhibited by high temperature (&gt; 25 °C) and RH (&gt; 40%). Sunlight exposure alters the virus’s genetic material and boosts the host’s immune function by raising serum vitamin D (25-hydroxyvitanim D), reducing the virus’s viability and replication. Prolonged indoor stays with poor ventilation cause re-breathing of the air and increase carbon dioxide concentration, particularly in crowded rooms, predisposing to COVID-19. Pollutants, including particulate matter, nitrogen dioxide, ozone, and sulphur dioxide, may overexpress the virus’s receptor called angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2), thereby increasing the virus’s infectivity. Pollutants may also induce inflammation of the respiratory tract, weakening the immune function and thereby increasing susceptibility to COVID-19. High population density increases body contact and thus susceptibility to the virus. To stem the incidence and mortality of COVID-19, the mentioned environmental factors must be kept at healthy levels

Exploring the reasons for perennial attacks on churches in Nigeria through the victims’ perspective

Although there are several provisions within the Nigerian legal framework that, however, address the issue of church attack, the state capacity to implement effective constitutional sanctioning on perpetrators of this heinous crime has always been found wanting or completely absent, leading to countless religious attacks on churches with seeming state consent. This study employs semi-structured interviews to draw data from affected families from Benue and Enugu States, Nigeria. The article explored their experiences. The study participants were recruited through snowball sampling technique, and data were analysed thematically. The respondents stated that church killings or killing of Christians is rising because of the fact that perpetrators stand lower risk of detection and apprehension than other crimes. Also respondents interrogated that justification for the crime is land acquisition and religious intolerance. On the persistence of the challenge, all the 13 respondents stated that the crime seems to have state approval that has made it seemly impossible to tackle. The article calls for continuous inter-religious dialogue and intentional governmental responsibility in protecting lives of all persons living within the geographical enclave of Nigeria which is necessary for the common good. Closer understanding of other faiths and religions will help build bridges of peace and tolerance. The article also calls for the need to promote African traditional values, such as the value of sacredness of life, human respect and good neighbourliness. Contribution:&nbsp;This study initiated the discussions that will help the public understand the reason for continuous church attacks in Nigeria, what church crime connotes in the Nigerian context and its uniqueness from other crimes. These discussions sit quite well within the transdisciplinary religious perspective of this journal

A common founding clone with TP53 and PTEN mutations gives rise to a concurrent germ cell tumor and acute megakaryoblastic leukemia

We report the findings from a patient who presented with a concurrent mediastinal germ cell tumor (GCT) and acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Bone marrow pathology was consistent with a diagnosis of acute megakaryoblastic leukemia (AML M7), and biopsy of an anterior mediastinal mass was consistent with a nonseminomatous GCT. Prior studies have described associations between hematological malignancies, including AML M7 and nonseminomatous GCTs, and it was recently suggested that a common founding clone initiated both cancers. We performed enhanced exome sequencing on the GCT and the AML M7 from our patient to define the clonal relationship between the two cancers. We found that both samples contained somatic mutations in PTEN (C136R missense) and TP53 (R213 frameshift). The mutations in PTEN and TP53 were present at ∼100% variant allele frequency (VAF) in both tumors. In addition, we detected and validated five other shared somatic mutations. The copy-number analysis of the AML exome data revealed an amplification of Chromosome 12p. We also identified a heterozygous germline variant in FANCA (S858R), which is known to be associated with Fanconi anemia but is of uncertain significance here. In summary, our data not only support a common founding clone for these cancers but also suggest that a specific set of distinct genomic alterations (in PTEN and TP53) underlies the rare association between GCT and AML. This association is likely linked to the treatment resistance and extremely poor outcome of these patients. We cannot resolve the clonal evolution of these tumors given limitations of our data

Antimicrobial activities of Carica papaya leaf against diarrhoea causing agents

The advent of science to the search for antibiotics principally depends on medicinal plants as raw materials. This present study evaluated the antimicrobial effect of Carica papaya leaf extracts against bacterial and fungal agents that causes diarrhoea. Fresh tender roots and leaves of this plant was collected, air-dried, powdered and percolated in n-hexane, methanol and aqueous solvents. The antimicrobial activities of the extract against test organisms were tested by using agar well diffusion assay and the MIC, MBC and MFC values were determined by agar dilution assay. The results revealed that the crude methanol and aqueous extracts of Carica papaya had no anti-fungal activity, but have antibacterial activity. N.hexane extract of C. papaya had most activity than other solvents with MIC ranged from 25 mg/ml to 50 mg/ml and MBC ranged from 50 mg/ml to 100 mg/ml.These results suggest that paw paw leaf extract is recommended as a diarrhoea disease remedy

A case of acute myeloid leukemia with promyelocytic features characterized by expression of a novel RARG-CPSF6 fusion

Key Points Novel RARG-CPSF6 fusion in an AML case with promyelocytic features and no evidence of PML-RARA or X-RARA fusion. Gene fusions involving RARG can initiate AML with promyelocytic morphological features.</jats:p

Anti-staphylococcal, anti-HIV and cytotoxicity studies of four South African medicinal plants and isolation of bioactive compounds from Cassine transvaalensis (Burtt. Davy) codd

Background: Medicinal plants represent an important opportunity to rural communities in Africa, as a source of affordable medicine and as a source of income. Increased patient awareness about safe usage is important as well as more training with regards to traditional medicine. The aim of this study was to evaluate the ethnomedicinal prowess of some indigenous South African plants commonly used in Eastern Cape Province of South Africa for the treatment of skin and respiratory tract infections, HIV and their toxicity potential. Methods: Cassine transvaalensis, Vangueria infausta, Croton gratissimus and Vitex ferruginea were tested for antibacterial activities against Staphylococcus aureus and Staphylococcus epidermidis using Kirby-Bauer disk diffusion and minimum inhibition concentration (MIC). Cytotoxic and anti-HIV-1 activities of plants were tested using MTT Assay (3- (Dimethylthiozole-2-yl-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide)) and anti- HIV-1iib assay. In search of bioactive lead compounds, Cassine transvaalensis which was found to be the most active plant extract against the two Staphylocoous bacteria was subjected to various chromatographic. Thin layer chromatography, Column chromatography and Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR), (1H-1H, 13C-13C, in DMSO_d6, Bruker 600 MHz) were used to isolate and characterize 3-Oxo-28-hydroxylbetuli-20(29)-ene and 3,28-dihydroxylbetuli-20(29)-ene bioactive compounds from C. transvaalensis. Results: The four plants studied exhibited bioactive properties against the test isolates. The zones of inhibition rangedbetween 16 mm to 31 mm for multi-drug resistant staphylococci species. MIC values varied between 0.6 and 0.02 μg/ml. C. gratissimus and C. transvaalensis exhibited the abilities to inhibit HIV-1iib. Two bioactive compounds were isolated from C. transvaalensis. Conclusion: Data from this study reveals the use of these plant by traditional healers in the Eastern Cape. Furthermore, C. transvaalensis and C. gratissimus were found to be more active as against HIV-1iib. While C. transvaalensis was most active against the two Staphylococcus bacteria