EDUCATIONAL FACTORS AS DETERMINANT OF INTERNATIONAL RESERVES ACCUMULATION IN ORGANISATION OF PETROLEUM EXPORTING COUNTRIES

There has been tepid growth of international reserves in OPEC economies despite huge chunks of oil revenue with high developmental needs. This study investigated the influence of educational factors using various levels of literacy in stimulating macroeconomic determinants of international reserves in OPEC member states with data between 2008 and 2018 obtained from World Bank Development Indicators across 15 member states. The study employed dynamic panel model and analysed the data using System of Generalised Method of Moment (SGMM). The findings show that educational levels, such as, adult, youth literacy, tertiary school and secondary school enrolment mitigate the adverse effect of exchange rate and stimulate the effect of crude oil prices while tertiary enrolment stimulate the effect of foreign direct investment and reduce the adverse effect of economic crises. In all, youth literacy was most impactful for these economies while economic crises were significantly positive at all levels as a primary determinant of international reserve accumulation. It was therefore concluded that educational enhance the economy to accumulate more reserves. The study recommended among others that national governments should ensure adequate funding is channelled to educational sector to improve the quality of education at institutions youth and secondary education levels in order to harness adequate knowledge and skills to enhance the efficiency of foreign investments

MEAT QUALITY CHARACTERISTICS OF IMPROVED INDIGENOUS CHICKENS (FUNAAB-ALPHA) FED TURMERIC (Curcuma longa) OR CLOVE (Syzygium aromaticum) AS FEED ADDITIVES

The experiment was conducted to investigate meat quality of improved indigenous chickens (FUNAAB alpha) fed diet containing turmeric (Curcuma longa) and clove (Syzigium aromaticum) powders. One hundred and thirty-five (135) mixed sexed day-old improved indigenous FUNAAB alpha chicks were brooded collectively for two weeks, and assigned into three (3) treatment groups. Each treatment was replicated three times, consisting of fifteen (15) birds. Feed and water were provided ad-libitum through the duration of experiment. The control group was fed the basal diet at starter and  finisher phases (T1), while the other groups were fed clove (Syzygium aromaticum) powder at 3 g/kg (T2) and turmeric (Curcuma longa) (T3) powder at 4 g/kg respectively as additives.   Data obtained were subjected to a One – Way Analysis of Variance in a Completely Randomised Design. Muscle obtained after evisceration was subjected to quality analysis. Proximate composition of meat obtained from chickens fed the basal diet had the highest (p<0.05) moisture content value of 75.45% compared to other treatments. Water absorptive capacity and cook loss of meat obtained from chickens fed 4 g/kg dietary turmeric showed (p<0.05) values of 3% and 16.4% respectively. Meat sensory properties analysed revealed (p<0.05) score in groups fed 3g/kg and 4 g/kg clove and turmeric powders respectively, for tenderness (6.14) and overall acceptability (7.19). Meanwhile (p<0.05) lipoprotein profile was observed in group fed 4 g/kg turmeric powder. Inclusion, turmeric and clove had beneficial effects on FUNAAB Alpha. &nbsp

Determinants of International Reserves Among Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC)

Member countries of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) are always in the news regarding the prices and supply of crude oil to the international market. One of the economic reasons for this is liquidity and the desire to accumulate international reserves by the respective countries. This paper examined the determinants of international reserves among the cartel against the backdrop of the motives for keeping reserves. With data from 2005 to 2018, the adopted variables that were tested with the system of generalised methods of moments (Sy-GMM) are inflation, exchange rates, oil prices, crude oil dependence, economic crises and others. The results and outputs show that inflation was negatively impactful externally and internally, while FDI inflows recorded negative significance. Economic crises and economic openness were positively significant, while oil prices and exchange rates were not significant determinants of international reserves accumulation. The paper recommends the maximisation of opportunities available by members during economic crises to accumulate reserves that will enable them to diversify from dependence on crude oil exports to include other products and a higher level of openness to open the economy up for competition to make the economies stronger

OPTIMIZATION PRINCIPLE AND ITS’ APPLICATION IN OPTIMIZINGLANDMARK UNIVERSITY BAKERY PRODUCTION USING LINEAR PROGRAMMING

This paper deals with the applications ofoptimization principle in optimizing profits of a production industry using linear programming to examine the production cost and determine its optimal profit. Linear programming is an operation research technique which is widely used in finding solutionsto managerial decision problems. However, many enterprises make more use of the trial-and-error method. As such, firms have been finding it difficult in allocating scarce resources in a manner that will ensure profit maximization and/or cost minimization.This paper makse use of secondary data collected from the records of the Landmark University Bakery on five types of bread produced in the firm which include Family loaf, sliced family bread, Chocolate loaf, medium size bread, small size bread. A problemof this nature was identified as a linear programming problem, formulated in Mathematical terms and solved using AMPL software. The solution obtained revealed that Landmark bakery unit should concentrate much more in production of 14,000 loaves of Family loaf and 10,571 loaves of Chocolate bread while others type should be less produced since their value is turning to zero in order to achieve a maximum monthly profit ofN1,860,000. From the analysis, it was observed that Family loaf and the Chocolate breadcontributed objectively to the profit. Hence, more of Family loaf and Chocolate bread are needed to be produced and sold in order to maximize the profi

Entrepreneurship, ICT and SME Development in Nigeria: The Ye, Yan, Yanju Paradigm

This paper examines the role of ICT in the development of entrepreneurship and Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) in Nigeria. It considers the impact of ICT on the creation of budding infopreneurs sequel to the introduction of the Global System for Mobile (GSM) communication in the country. It was discovered that the introduction of GSM as a factor of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) opened up a vista of opportunities for youth empowerment and employment. Using exploratory methods, the study discovered that ICT has a major role to play in the development of start-up enterprises, most of which are novel creations in their own rights. These previously unheard of ventures created opportunities for addressing the yearnings for employment and job creation for the youth and they include such entrepreneurial ventures as the ubiquitous call centers and short-codes businesses. However, each new enterprise must transcend three local dimensional contexts to attain sustainability; ye, yan, yanju. Contexts parallelly aligned to enterprise conception, birth and persistence.   It was also discovered that limiting factors such as poor access to financial assistance and poor marketing skill and orientation constitute challenges which any budding entrepreneur need to tackle to achieve sustainability of the established venture. Keywords:             infopreneurs, intrapreneurs, call-center, GSM, Ye, Yan, Yanj

Epidemiology of Chlamydia Bacteria Infections -A Review

Abstract: In this paper we study the Chlamydia Bacteria Infections. The authors especially try to find the effect of these bacteria infections in human beings. We reviewed the existing models and outlined what Chlamydia causes

Patient characteristics associated with COVID-19 positivity and fatality in Nigeria: retrospective cohort study

Objective: Despite the increasing disease burden, there is a dearth of context-specific evidence on the risk factors for COVID-19 positivity and subsequent death in Nigeria. Thus, the study objective was to identify context-specific factors associated with testing positive for COVID-19 and fatality in Nigeria. Design Retrospective cohort study. Setting: COVID-19 surveillance and laboratory centres in 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory reporting data to the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control. Participants: Individuals who were investigated for SARSCoV-2 using real-time PCR testing during the study period 27 February–8 June 2020. Methods: COVID-19 positivity and subsequent mortality. Multivariable logistic regression analyses were performed to identify factors independently associated with both outcome variables, and findings are presented as adjusted ORs (aORs) and 95% CIs. Results: A total of 36 496 patients were tested for COVID-19, with 10 517 confirmed cases. Of 3215 confirmed cases with available clinical outcomes, 295 died. Factors independently associated with COVID-19 positivity were older age (p value for trend<0.0001), male sex (aOR 1.11, 95%CI 1.04 to 1.18) and the following presenting symptoms: cough (aOR 1.23, 95% CI 1.13 to 1.32), fever (aOR 1.45, 95% CI 1.45 to 1.71), loss of smell (aOR 7.78, 95% CI 5.19 to 11.66) and loss of taste (aOR 2.50, 95% CI 1.60 to 3.90). An increased risk of mortality following COVID-19 was observed in those aged ≥51 years, patients in farming occupation (aOR 7.56, 95% CI 1.70 to 33.53) and those presenting with cough (aOR 2.06, 95% CI 1.41 to 3.01), breathing difficulties (aOR 5.68, 95% CI 3.77 to 8.58) and vomiting (aOR 2.54, 95% CI 1.33 to 4.84). Conclusion: The significant risk factors associated with COVID-19 positivity and subsequent mortality in the Nigerian population are similar to those reported in studies from other countries and should guide clinical decisions for COVID-19 testing and specialist care referrals

Women’s beliefs about medicines and adherence to pharmacotherapy in pregnancy: Opportunities for community pharmacists?

Background During pregnancy women might weigh benefits of treatment against potential risks to the unborn child. However, non-adherence to necessary treatment can adversely affect both mother and child. To optimize pregnant women’s beliefs and medication adherence, community pharmacists are ideally positioned to play an important role in primary care. Objective This narrative review aimed to summarize the evidence on 1) pregnant women’s beliefs, 2) medication adherence in pregnancy, and 3) community pharmacists’ counselling during pregnancy. Method Three search strategies were used in Medline and Embase to find original studies evaluating women’s beliefs, medication adherence and community pharmacists’ counselling during pregnancy. All original descriptive and analytic epidemiological studies performed in Europe, North America and Australia, written in English and published from 2000 onwards were included. Results We included 14 studies reporting on women’s beliefs, 11 studies on medication adherence and 9 on community pharmacists’ counselling during pregnancy. Women are more reluctant to use medicines during pregnancy and tend to overestimate the teratogenic risk of medicines. Risk perception varies with type of medicine, level of health literacy, education level and occupation. Furthermore, low medication adherence during pregnancy is common. Finally, limited evidence showed current community pharmacists’ counselling is insufficient. Barriers hindering pharmacists are insufficient knowledge and limited access to reliable information. Conclusion Concerns about medication use and non-adherence are widespread among pregnant women. Community pharmacists’ counselling during pregnancy is insufficient. Further education, training and research are required to support community pharmacists in fulfilling all the opportunities they have when counselling pregnant women

CSF1R inhibitor JNJ-40346527 attenuates microglial proliferation and neurodegeneration in P301S mice

Neuroinflammation and microglial activation are significant processes in Alzheimer's disease pathology. Recent genome-wide association studies have highlighted multiple immune-related genes in association with Alzheimer's disease, and experimental data have demonstrated microglial proliferation as a significant component of the neuropathology. In this study, we tested the efficacy of the selective CSF1R inhibitor JNJ-40346527 (JNJ-527) in the P301S mouse tauopathy model. We first demonstrated the anti-proliferative effects of JNJ-527 on microglia in the ME7 prion model, and its impact on the inflammatory profile, and provided potential CNS biomarkers for clinical investigation with the compound, including pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamics and efficacy assessment by TSPO autoradiography and CSF proteomics. Then, we showed for the first time that blockade of microglial proliferation and modification of microglial phenotype leads to an attenuation of tau-induced neurodegeneration and results in functional improvement in P301S mice. Overall, this work strongly supports the potential for inhibition of CSF1R as a target for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease and other tau-mediated neurodegenerative diseases