Financing Role in Structural Transformation in Nigeria

This study adopts a comparative approach to examine the role of financing on structural transformation in Nigeria. The Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) analysis was carried out and we found out a long run relationship between financing and agricultural output as well as between financing and industrial output. However, bank financing is more concentrated on the industrial sector than the agricultural sector. There is increased output in the industrial sector due to increase in money supply while the funds from the Agricultural Credit Guarantee Scheme to the agricultural sector has promoted increase in the agricultural sector’s output. The study recommends that while policies should be geared towards enabling further development of the industrial sector, it is also vital to consciously drive the agricultural sector to increase production. The agricultural sector, if well-funded, has the capacity to bloom and form a strong linkage with the industrial sector

Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy in South Western Nigeria

AIMS: To evaluate the prevalence of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) and its characteristics (clinical, electrocardiographic and echocardiographic) in a hospital population presenting for echocardiography at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH). MATERIALS AND METHOD: The echocardiographic records of patients over a two year period (1998-2000) were reviewed. Patients with a diagnosis of HCM were re-evaluated and included if they had a hypertrophied non-dilated left ventricle with maximal interventricular septum thickness ≥ 15mm and interventricular/posterior wall ratio >1.3 in the absence of any known cause of hypertrophy. RESULT: Fourteen (2%) of the 712 patients examined had hypertrophic cardiomyopathy with a male preponderance (M/F 3.7:1) and mean age of 43.14±15.00yrs. The commonest symptoms were chest pain and palpitations in about 50% of the subjects. Giant T wave inversion was present on the electrocardiogram of 42.9% of the subjects. The mean interventricular septum was 23.25±7.86mm (range 16 - 36mm) and the mean posterior wall thickness was 13.66±7.86mm (range 8.3 – 20mm). CONCLUSION: Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy occurs in about 2% of our population referred for echocardiographic examination. Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy should be considered in young males presenting with chest pain in Nigeria

Understanding the Theory of Consumption in the Context of a Developing Economy

This paper synthesizes the theory of consumption using some Nigerian contexts. The argument on what determines consumption is yet an unfinished task. We tested the general consumption function using Nigerian data covering 1981-2012. Based on the diagnostics, we employed a vector autoregression-in-first difference approach. The result shows that previous incomes (up to two lags) may not be significant in influencing consumption in Nigeria but previous consumption levels (up to two lags) attained may do. In addition, consumers in Nigeria may reduce their consumption in the current year based on their knowledge of previous year consumption but may raise the current consumption level  due to their experience of last    two years consumption. This corroborates suggestions that macro-econometricians must analyze consumption beyond the general consumption function. The pattern of historical data also suggests that consumption may be difficult to predict in Nigeria. Therefore, government of Nigeria may succeed in influencing its aggregate demand which consumption is the major component if its income and tax policies are permanent, rather than being temporary

Re-examining Exchange Rate Regimes and Inflation Nexus: An ARDL Analysis for Nigerian Case

Exchange rate has remained devastated in Nigeria while the problem of high inflation lingers. Therefore, this paper re-examines the effect of exchange rate regimes on inflation in the country. We used the Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) approach for our analysis. Contrary to most studies on Nigeria, we tested the stability of our inflation model. The past one year value of exchange rate has a negative and significant impact on the current inflation rate. Inflation rate increased more during the fixed exchange regime compared to the floating exchange rate regime. During the floating exchange rate regime, as the exchange rate increases, the inflation rate decreases and vice versa. This suggest that the floating exchange rate regime policy is preferable for combating increases in inflation rate compared to the fixed exchange rate. The lags of money supply have a direct relationship with inflation rate. The past two years value of interest rate also has a direct relationship with inflation rate. It is imperative that future studies on Nigeria consider wider spectrums of exchange rate regimes than ours

Parametric Studies on a Mitchell-Ossberger Turbine (Numerical Approach)

This present study focuses on some selected parameter towards designing an efficient MOT hydro turbine via MOT-model formulation, parametric analysis for optimal performance, as well as development of computational interface with Visual Basic 10 programming software.The parametric studies play important role when it comes to performance optimization of the locally manufactured Mitchell-Ossberger Turbine (MOT). Several literatures on hydro-turbine had discussed extensively on the design of MOTs as well as their advantages over the other types of hydro-turbines. But none had ever discussed extensively, the parametric studies involved in optimizing an efficient MOT. This present study focused on some selected parameter towards designing an efficient and optimal MOT. This was achieved via formulation of a turbine parametric model, development of turbine computational interface (module) and decoding of the obtained data with Visual Basic (VB) 10. The algorithm, which contains step by step solution to the problem, was developed for the program. The flow formed was designed to have a data grid view which displays data loaded into the application. The flow interface had eight buttons based on certain parametric entries. The strength of this interface lied in its codes and after data which were sorted on descending order has been loaded to the memory via Visual Basic programming software. It was discovered from the obtained results that as the angle of attack increases, the turbine power developed and the efficiency decreases marginally. The effect of the flow rate was that, it increases as other parameter increases. Then, all necessary recommendations were made.Self-sponsore

Re-Examining the Nexus between Exchange and Interest Rates in Nigeria

Nigeria has experienced somersault of foreign exchange policies by the Central Bank. One policy concern in recent times is to have an appropriate target of the exchange and interest rates. Therefore, this paper seeks to provide a foundation for the targeting of an appropriate exchange and interest rates for the country. Using the Johansen Cointegration and Vector Error Correction Mechanism approaches, it specifically examines the relationships among Nigeria’s weak exchange rate, its local rate of interest and world interest rate. Contrary to many studies, a control measure involving inclusion of inflation, money supply and national output in the model is done. The analysis showed an equilibrium association between exchange rate and interest rate-cum-other variables and steady rectification of deviance from long-run stability over a sequence of incomplete short-run modifications. Increase in domestic and world interest rate, inflation, money supply and GDPat equilibrium would strengthen the exchange rate. Besides, further findings showed some bidirectional causal associations among the variables. By long-run implication, the targeting of an appropriate exchange rate in Nigeria requires a tightened monetary policy that is not inflation and growth biased. However, increase in world interest rate, money supply and inflation rate must be moderate in order not to worsen the exchange rate as suggested by the short-run result.&nbsp

Heat Transfer Analysis in Internal Combustion Engine Piston Using Comsol Multiphysics: A Case Study of Tri-Cycle

This present study is aimed at analyzing the heat transfer rate of an internal combustion engines piston using finite element methods (FEM).The transient nature of heat flowing involving more than single variable, complicated method of measuring temperature across the length of the liner and ambiguous boundary conditions pose serious problems for the analysis of heat transfer rate on the piston of an internal combustion engine using FEM (Finite Element Method). This present study analyzed the heat transfer rate on the piston of a Tri-cycle engine. The studied piston was selected based on its applications in automobile and other engineering applications. The analysis was basically on the transient state forced-convection and conduction heat transfer. As initial condition, the temperature distributions were considered along the piston at a range of 523K – 673K. The parameter used for the simulation were liquid (Gasoline), Gases (Air) and Aluminium silicon UNSA96061 (Piston). The modeling and simulation were performed by using COMSOL-Multiphysics 4.3a software. The mesh optimization was undertaken by using FEM techniques to predict the maximum and mimimum temperature on the piston at every stages of simulation with time dependent. It was discovered that the temperature along the piston of the try-cycle varies with respect to time. The transient analysis revealed that the temperature of the piston at the TDC (Top Dead Center) in the first power stroke is higher compare to the subsequent power strokes, which is an indication that more heat is transfer at subsequent power strokes. Probable recommendations were later made.Self-sponsore

Method of efficiently predicting the conducted emissions of multiple VSCs

Various types of power converters including Voltage Source Converters (VSCs) have been known to produce conducted emissions. The net effect of simultaneously operating multiple VSCs is non-linear and this makes the prediction of the emission level more difficult. This paper presents an efficient method that can be used to predict conducted emissions of multiple VSCs in the presence of various uncertainties. It utilizes the Univariate Dimension Reduction (UDR) and the Bivariate Dimension Reduction (BDR) technique to predict the conducted emission level of multiple VSCs