An Appraisal of Some Factors Influencing Economic Growth in Nigeria

This study examines the impact of some determinants of economic growth on the Gross Domestic Products (GDP). These determinates include interest rate, inflation rate, oil revenue, Federal Government Expenditure, money supply, foreign private investment and foreign exchange rate. The study employed unit root test, co-integration test and multiple regression analysis. The result showed that there is a longrun relationship between GDP and all the determinants aforementioned. The study also establishes that money supply, oil revenue, Federal Government Expenditure and foreign private investment had significant impact on economic growth while inflation rate, interest rate and foreign exchange rates  adopted so far  by the government does not have significant impact on economic growth ( GDP). The study recommended that the productive capacity should be improved by Government through direct investment in the real sectors of the economy and Government expenditure should be expanded on productive ventures since its impact on economic growth is positive Keywords: Economic growth, Government expenditure, Output and Investment

Reproductive Hormones and Fibroid Cases in Nigerian Women

Investigations were carried out on the association between some reproductive hormones (Progesterone, oestrogen, leutenizing and follicle stimulating hormones), and fibroid cases in Nigerian women.  The levels of these hormones were determined in 30 patients with chronic fibroid cases and another 30 patients with non chronic fibroid cases. The mean values of these hormones in non-chronic fibroid cases (14.50±0.20, 98.01±0.67, 0.51±0.05, 4.02±0.74 respectively), were found  to be significantly higher than corresponding values in non fibroid cases. Also the values obtained in chronic fibroid cases were also significantly higher (P<0.05) than that of the non chronic fibroid cases. Our finding indicates that the alteration in these reproductive hormone levels might be related with the pathogenesis of fibroid in Nigerian women. Keywords: reproductive hormones, progesterone, oestrogen, leuteinizing hormones, follicle stimulating hormones, fibroid, pathogenesis

Effect of the Aqueous Extract of the Leaves and Seeds of Avocado Pear (Persea Americana) On Some Marker Enzymes and Cholesterol in the Albino Rat Tissues

Abstract: The effects of various doses of aqueous extract of the leaves and seeds of Perse

Response of patent medicine vendors in rural areas of Lagos state Nigeria to antimalarial policy change

Background: Patent medicine vendors (PMVs) play an important role in the treatment of malaria, especially in the rural areas. Nigeria recently changed her antimalarial treatment policy from chloroquine to artemisinin-based combination therapy (ACT).Objectives: To determine the response of PMVs to the new policy.Methods: A baseline study was conducted in two local government areas (LGAs) of Lagos state Nigeria as the first phase in an intervention study aimed at improving the malarial treatment practices of PMVs in rural Lagos. A mixed method design involving a questionnaire survey of 180 PMVs and four key informant interviews were used. An antimalarial drug (AMD) audit was also performed.Results: More than 80% of respondents were aware of the policy change in malaria treatment, but only 23.9% sold an ACT for the last case of malaria treated in an under five child. The main determining factor of the particular AMD sold was PMV’s personal choice (70.6%). About half (58.9%) of the shops stocked ACTs, the newly recommended antimalarials.Conclusions: The high awareness of the policy change did not translate to a commensurate increase in the sale of the new drugs. Factors beyond the PMVs need to be addressed for a successful adoption of the new policy.Key words: Patent Medicine Vendors, ACTs, policy change, malaria, artemisinin monotherapies, non-artemisinin therapie

DOG CASTRATION RECORDS IN VETERINARY TEACHING HOSPITAL, FUNAAB

ABSTRACT This study was aimed at determining the records of surgical castration in dogs by reviewing the records of dogs presented to the Veterinary Teaching Hospital, Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta between May, 2005 and October, 2012 .  Data recorded included breed, age of the dogs at presentation and presenting history and clinical signs. It was only thirteen   dogs that were presented for castration out of five hundred and twenty five male dogs presented to the hospital during this period. They comprised of three breeds of dogs with mean age of 3.5 ± 2.1 years. General anaesthesia was used in twelve (12) of the thirteen (13) cases, while sedation with local anaesthesia was employed in one (1) case. The rate of surgical castration in VTH, FUNAAB is very low while castration could be said to be requested for later in life.     &nbsp

Evaluation of some Marker Enzymes, Prostaglandins, C-Reactive Protein and Plasma Total Protein, in Pregnancy Induced Hypertension among women in Ekiti State, Nigeria

This study was carried out to evaluate the levels of some marker enzymes, Prostaglandins,  C-Reactive protein and Total protein in women with pregnancy induced hypertension (PIH) and  normotensive pregnant  women  in Ekiti state, Nigeria. The patients were got and nurtured at the university teaching hospital and Federal medical Centre located in different towns within the state. The results obtained revealed no significant change (p<0.05) in the activities of the enzymes; Acid Phosphatase(ACP), Aspartate Aminotransferase (AST), Alanine aminotransferase (ALT), Lactate Dehydrogenase (LDH) in both normotensive and hypertensive pregnancy. However, Alkaline phosphatase showed a significant decrease (p<0.05) in patients with PIH. Prostaglandins assayed for revealed a significant increase (p<0.05) in both normotensive and hypertensive pregnant patients, but patients with PIH showed a higher significance. It was also observed that C-reactive protein significantly increased (p<0.01) in pregnant women with PIH. The results further revealed a significant decrease (p<0.05) in the level of  Total  Protein in women with PIH only. This study reveals that  PIH is associated with reduced levels of Total Plasma Protein and raised levels of C-Reactive Protein and Prostaglandins. Also, it can be said from the result that PIH does not bring about significant changes in the activities of the marker enzymes examined apart from alkaline phosphatase which was implicated. Keywords: Marker Enzymes, Prostaglandins, C-Reactive Protein, Total Protein, Pregnancy Induced Hypertension(PIH), Acid phosphatase(ACP), Alkaline Phosphatase (ALP), Alanine Aminotransferase (ALT),Aspartate Aminotransferase (AST), Lactate dehydrogenase(LDH)

How safe is recreational soccer playing as a health enhancing physical activity for apparently healthy adults in Maiduguri, Nigeria?

Soccer is a competitive sport, but its suitability as a recreational health enhancing physical activity has not been explored among adults in Nigeria. Objectives: This study was conducted to determine the cardiovascular responses and changes in rating of perceived exertion (RPE) following recreational soccer game among amateur soccer players. Method: Sixtyseven apparently healthy young men conveniently selected from three non-professional football clubs in Maiduguri participated in the study. The participants were pre-screened for any cardiovascular ailment before engaging in recreational soccer playing for a total of 30 minutes. Participants' base line cardiovascular measurement and RPE were taken before and after the soccer session. Descriptive statistic of mean was used to summarize physical characteristic of the participants and one-way repeated measures Analysis of Variance were used to compare the cardiovascular parameters of the subjects at rest, after soccer and into recoveries. Results: The mean age and body mass index of the participants were 23±4.3 years and 19.5±2.6 kg/m respectively. The result shows significant heightened heart rate (HR), systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic BP (DBP) and RPE immediately following soccer playing by 67.4 ± 19.9 bpm, 19.6 ± 10.6 mmHg, 19.1 ± 14.9 mmHg and 9.2 ± 2.3, respectively. It also shows significantly (p<0.05) higher derived values including mean arterial pressure (MAP) and rate pressure product (RPP) after soccer playing compared to the baseline resting values. HR and RPP were still higher than the baseline values eight minutes into recovery, while SBP, DBP, MAP six minutes into recovery were comparable to the baseline value and were even lower than the baseline values eight minutes into recovery. Conclusion: This study found heightened cardiovascular response and RPE after 30 minutes of soccer playing among non-professional soccer players in Maiduguri. The finding suggests that soccer playing may be too strenuous physical activity to be recommended for meeting the physical activity requirements for health enhancing benefits among apparentl

Biochemical Changes in Plasma Lipids and Mineral Elements in Preeclampsia Patients in Ekiti State, Nigeria

This study has determined the concentrations of Total Cholesterol (TC), High Density Lipoprotein (HDL), Low  Density Lipoprotein (LDL), Triacylglyceride (TG),  Very Low Density Lipoprotein (VLDL),  Mineral Elements and some Electrolytes. Subjects used for this study were made up of 180 women with preeclampsia and 80 normotensive pregnant women, who attended antenatal and postnatal clinics of the Ekiti State University Teaching Hospital, Ado-Ekiti and Federal Medical center, Ido-Ekiti, Ekiti State, Nigeria. In addition, 80 control volunteers were also involved in this study. The control participants comprise of 40 normotensive and 40 hypertensive non-pregnant women randomly selected. They were also non-users of contraceptives therapy. Anthropometric measurements including age, parity, blood pressure, height and weight were recorded for the subjects.  Plasma concentrations of each of the biomarkers were determined using test kits, based on established methods, in the subjects at 1st trimester , 2nd trimester and  3-6 days post-partum. The results in the hypertensive pregnant subjects were compared statistically (P<0.05), with the normotensive pregnant subjects. TC, LDLC, VLDLC and TG increase significantly in PIH subjects, but HDL showed significant decrease in the preeclampsia subjects ,as the pregnancy progresses to the 3rd trimester. At post –partum the lipid profile becomes normal again in preeclampsia. Subjects with preeclampsia showed more significant decrease in the levels of Ca, Mg, Na, and P elements.   This research work pointed out clearly that, Plasma lipids and some mineral elements are implicated in Pregnancy Induced Hypertension. They may be likely etiological factors in the disease, and may also serve as indicators for early detection. Keywords: Preeclampsia, Total Cholesterol (TC), High Density Lipoprotein (HDL), Low  Density Lipoprotein (LDL), Triacylglyceride (TG),  Very Low Density Lipoprotein (VLDL), Mineral elements

Near-real time foF2 predictions using neural networks

This paper describes the use of the neural network (NN) technique for the development of a near-real time global foF2 (NRTNN) empirical model. The data used are hourly daily values of foF2 from 26 worldwide ionospheric stations (based on availability) during the period 1976–1986 for training the NN and between 1977 and 1989 for verifying the prediction accuracy. The training data set includes all periods of quiet and disturbed geomagnetic conditions. Two categories of input parameters were used as inputs to the NN. The first category consists of geophysical parameters that are temporally or spatially related to the training stations. The second category, which is related to the foF2 itself, consists of three recent past observations of foF2 (i.e. real-time foF2 (F0), 2 h (F−2) and 1 h (F−1) prior to F0) from four control stations (i.e. Boulder (40.0°N, 254.7°E), Grahamstown (33.3°S, 26.5°E), Dourbes (50.1°N, 4.6°E) and Port Stanley (51.7°S, 302.2°E). The performance of the NRTNN was verified under both geomagnetically quiet and disturbed conditions with observed data from a few verification stations. A comparison of the root mean square error (RMSE) differences between measured values and the NRTNN predictions with our earlier standard foF2 NN empirical model is also illustrated. The results reveal that NRTNN will predict foF2 in near-real time with about 1 MHz RMSE difference anywhere on the globe, provided real time data is available at the four control stations. From the results it is also evident that in addition to the geophysical information from any geographical location, recent past observations of foF2 from these control stations could be used as inputs to a NN for near-real time foF2 predictions. Results also reveal that there is a temporal correlation between measured foF2 values at different locations

Geomagnetic Activity Control of Irregularities Occurrences Over the Crests of the African EIA

Abstract This paper investigated the behavior of ionospheric irregularities over the African equatorial ionization anomaly (EIA) crests during intense geomagnetic storms that occurred from 2012 to 2015. Irregularities were monitored using the rate of change of TEC index along with variations of the horizontal component of the Earth's magnetic field (H) and ionospheric electric current disturbance (Diono). The predictive capability of the Prompt Penetration Equatorial Electric Field Model (PPEFM) was assessed by comparing prompt penetration electric field (PPEF) inferred from interplanetary electric field and Diono with PPEF derived from the PPEFM, with emphasis on how well the model reproduced enhancement/reduction in the prereversal enhancement (PRE). Eastward PPEF triggered short duration irregularities on 23 April 2012, 17 March 2013, and 20 February 2014 while westward electric field reduced them thereafter. The PPEFM rightly predicted enhancement (reduction) in PRE on 17 March 2013 (19 February 2014) when irregularities were triggered (inhibited). It, however, showed no change in the PRE on 23 April 2012 and 20 February 2014. During the storms recoveries, irregularities were always inhibited/reduced over the trough by westward disturbance dynamo and the inhibition lasted longer during the superstorm of March 2015. Also, there was a hemispheric asymmetry in irregularities over the African EIA crests. On 16–17 July 2012, 15 November 2012, and 19 March 2013, there were differences in irregularities behavior. On these days, the asymmetry of the postsunset crests was pronounced in both hemispheres