Global Financial and Macroeconomic Fluctuations: Implications for African Economic Development

In the light of dampening effects of the global financial melt-down, the paper examines the trends in financial flows, particularly foreign direct investment (FDI) and the possible effects of the global financial crisis and macroeconomic fluctuations on economic development in Africa. The paper employs simple panel data approach which links panel data methodology that allows for individual heterogeneity, while the method of estimation is the Fixed and Random Effects regression. The method of panel VAR is also used in the paper with a view to capturing the dynamic effects of FDI inflows for policy analysis using the impulse response functions. The number of countries (27) included in the paper and the period of estimation, 1987-2007, are informed by data availability. With some suggestions on the direction of policy to stimulate increased financial flows, the paper opines that there is the need for comparative dynamics of African economies in order to return to the path of sustainable growth and development

Evaluation of QSAR and ligand enzyme docking for the identification of ABCB1 substrates

P-glycoprotein (P-gp) is an efflux pump that belongs to ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporter family embedded in the membrane bilayer. P-gp is a polyspecific protein that has demonstrated its function as a transporter of hydrophobic drugs as well as transporting lipids, steroids and metabolic products. Its role in multidrug resistance (MDR) and pharmacokinetic profile of clinically important drug molecules has been widely recognised. In this study, QSAR and enzyme-ligand docking methods were explored in order to classify substrates and non-substrates of P-glycoprotein. A set of 123 compounds designated as substrates (54) or non-substrates (69) by Matsson et al., 2009 was used for the investigation. For QSAR studies, molecular descriptors were calculated using ACD labs/LogD Suite and MOE (CCG Inc.). P-glycoprotein structures available in the Protein data bank were used for docking studies and determination of binding scores using MOE software. Binding sites were defined using co-crystallised ligand structures. Three classification algorithms which included classification and regression trees, boosted trees and support vector machine were examined. Models were developed using a training set of 98 compounds and were validated using the remaining compounds as the external test set. A model generated using BT was identified as the best of three models, with a prediction accuracy of 88%, Mathews correlation coefficient of 0.77 and Youden’s J index of 0.80 for the test set. Inclusion of various docking scores for different binding sites improved the models only marginally

Does Microfinance Improve the Standard of the Poor?

Access to microfinance is expected to improve the standard of living of the poor that are economic active and microfinance clients by enabling them to increase their household income. This study examined the contributions of Microfinance institutions to poverty reduction in Southwest Nigeria, using both primary and secondary data collected from Microfinance institutions (MFIs) and randomly selected customers (micro, small and medium enterprises) of the same Institutions. The study adopted a multistage sampling technique. The data from the survey was used to analyze the impact of loan received on earnings using a loan-impact probability model. The study found that Microfinance is an effective poverty alleviation strategy as it reaches the target customers more effectively and helps to a large extent in improving their standard of living and social status and also impacts greatly on Customers’ savings habit and income generation. The study therefore recommended that MFIs should embark on funds mobilisation drive to be able to reach out to more viable customers for provision of financial services. It also recommended that there should be provision of incentives by government to sustain MFIs in order to further extend their services to the rural areas and capacity building of MFIs in Nigeria should be made mandatory so as to develop appropriate policies that will enhance sustainability and stability

Distribution of Radionuclide Concentration with Proximity to the Lagoon in Lagos State, Southwestern Nigeria

The radioactivity of Lagos State in the Southwestern Nigeria was determined using an HpGe based, low level passive gamma-counting system. The main radinouclides analyzed in the samples were the progenies of 238U and 232Th. The other two isotopes were the naturally occurring 40K and the anthropogenic 137Cs. The results of the study showed that the average specific activity concentration of 238U, 232Th and 40K have consistent values with published data for many other countries in the world. The presence of the fission product 137Cs could be traced to the fallout of the nuclear tests in the Sahara desert and probably, some effects of the more recent nuclear reactor accident at Chernobyl in 1986. Keyword: radionuclide, concentration, radioactivity, contamination, soi

Variation in Grain Yield and Other Agronomic Traits in Soybean Evaluated at Makurdi (Southern Guinea Savanna Ecology), Nigeria.

Twenty five varieties of soybean were evaluated in Makurdi (southern Guinea Savanna ecology), Nigeria, with the objective of identifying high yielding genotypes that could replace the popularly grown variety (TGX 1448 – 2E). Highly significant genotypic differences were observed for all the characters (days to flowering, days to podding, days to maturity, plant height, height of lowest pod, number of pods/plant, 100 seed weight, haulm yield and grain yield) studied. Seven varieties, namely TGX1990-98F, TGX1991-10F, TGX1990-86F, UG5, TGX1485-1D, TGX1990-48F and TGX1990-80F yielded higher than TGX 1448 – 2E and were identified as possible candidates for the replacement of TGX 1448 – 2E in Makurdi. Further studies on the evaluation of these seven varieties across more locations within the southern Guinea Savanna ecology of Nigeria are required prior to location specific selection and recommendation. Keywords: southern Guinea Savanna, genotype, variety, yield, soybean

Performance Evaluation of Automated Teller Machine (ATM) in Nigerian Banking Institution: A Case Study of First Bank of Nigeria Plc. Ibadan

This paper evaluates the performance of ATM machine in Nigeria banking sector using queue theory model. A few simple queues-models were analysed in terms of steady-state derivation. Theoretical formulations and results (with real-life dataset) were established for queue models with Poisson arrivals and exponential service durations. Derivation and calculation of some performance measure including the average queue length, average waiting time in the queue and in the system, and the probability of encountering the system in certain states such as empty, full having an available server or having to wait a certain time to be served were explored under single and multi-server. FIFO (first in, first out) queue discipline was adopted. Keywords: Steady state, waiting-time, queue-discipline, multi-severs, FIFO (first in, first out)

RESOLUTION OF SEISMIC INTERPRETATION ANOMALIES THROUGH THE SPECTRAL RATIO TIME DEPENDENT METHOD.

Interpretation of seismic results from a complex geological formation can be very difficult both on-field and off-field. The spectra ratio (SR) time-dependent method was derived using established geological principles. The spectral amplitude was analyzed numerically to affirm the reliability of the method on field operations. It was observed that the SR time-dependent method could initiate a natural correction to the attenuated seismic amplitude at each given interval during a seismic operation. The multi-layer implementation of the adopted method showed great success with the most accurate result at n = 0.1 for the fourth term on a newly-propounded volumetric table. Most volumetric results from the Niger- Delta showed correspondence with the volumetric analysis of the fourth term. One of the on-field volumetric results was obtained in the third term. The derivation of the volumetric table is to further enhance more accurate exploration using the reflective seismic technique