Finance Companies, Central Bank of Nigeria and Economic Development

This paper is an empirical study of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) regulatory activities , finance house activities and economic development, within the period 1992-2010, using gross domestic product GDP(dependent) as a  measure of economic  development, while Activities of Finance houses proxy by domestic credit and total assets, CBN activities proxy by the shareholders fund and minimum paid up capital, estimation of regression models and subsequent analysis of results using micro fit 4.1 econometric, statistical analytical  tool. The findings indicate that significant relationships existed between Finance house activities and economic development, and CBN regulatory activities in finance house has no significant relationship. Therefore, this calls for policy options that would favor the encouragement of existing finance houses and licensing of new ones to adequately carter for the needs of the overall economy.. Keywords: Economic development, Finance houses/companies, Money market, CBN, and GDP.

The Role of Internal Audit in Effective Management in Public Sector.

This study is an empirical analysis of the role of Internal audit (IA) in an effective management control in public sector. It examine if  effective management can be achieve in local government, IA effectiveness does  play a role in ensuring effective management in public sector, and  If IA effectiveness does  affect management control in public sector in Edo State using Z –test   statistical tool. The Z-test results shows that effective management can be achieve in local government, IA effectiveness play role  in  ensuring effective management in public sector, while  IA effectiveness does not   affect management control in public sector in Edo state. Keywords: Internal auditing; Public sector; management control  and effectivenes

Bacterias solubilizadoras de fosfato y sus potencialidades de uso en la promoción del crecimiento de cultivos de importância económica

La mayoría de los suelos tropicales y subtropicales son deficientes en fósforo biodisponible, por lo que el empleo de bacterias promotoras del crecimiento vegetal, principalmente las solubilizadoras de fosfato, pueden reducir el uso de fertilizantes químicos. El objetivo de este trabajo es ofrecer una panorámica actual acerca de los principales géneros y mecanismos de acción de las bacterias solubilizadoras de fosfatos (BSF), así como analizar su posible empleo en cultivos de importancia económica. La utilización de géneros bacterianos con mayores potencialidades de uso como Pseudomonas y Bacillus unido a aislados promisorios de Azospirillum y Herbaspirilum en cultivos como arroz y café permitiría reducir a largo plazo el uso de productos químicos en la agricultura, así como desarrollar estrategias agronómicas que preserven el medio ambiente. El éxito de estos inoculantes bacterianos depende de la selección de cepas autóctonas eficientes por tipo de suelo, su capacidad de colonizar la rizosfera y de mantener la actividad biológica

Germline Genetic Findings Which May Impact Therapeutic Decisions in Families with a Presumed Predisposition for Hereditary Breast and Ovarian Cancer

In this study, we aim to gain insight in the germline mutation spectrum of ATM, BARD1, BRIP1, ERCC4, PALB2, RAD51C and RAD51D in breast and ovarian cancer families from Spain. We have selected 180 index cases in whom a germline mutation in BRCA1 and BRCA2 was previously ruled out. The importance of disease-causing variants in these genes lies in the fact that they may have possible therapeutic implications according to clinical guidelines. All variants were assessed by combined annotation dependent depletion (CADD) for scoring their deleteriousness. In addition, we used the cancer genome interpreter to explore the implications of some variants in drug response. Finally, we compiled and evaluated the family history to assess whether carrying a pathogenic mutation was associated with age at diagnosis, tumour diversity of the pedigree and total number of cancer cases in the family. Eight unequivocal pathogenic mutations were found and another fourteen were prioritized as possible causal variants. Some of these molecular results could contribute to cancer diagnosis, treatment selection and prevention. We found a statistically significant association between tumour diversity in the family and carrying a variant with a high score predicting pathogenicity (p = 0.0003)

The relations between DISC-IV DSM diagnoses of ADHD and multi-informant CBCL-AP syndrome scores

Background: Previous studies have examined the relation between attention problems (APs) obtained with the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) assessed with the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM). We will examine this relation across sex using multi-informant data. Methods: Parents of 12 538 twins, aged 7, 10, and 12 years, and teachers of twins, aged 10 years, completed the questionnaires. The mothers of a sample of 283 boys and 291 girls who scored either low or high on longitudinal maternal CBCL-AP were interviewed. Results: Children with a low AP score obtained a negative ADHD diagnosis in 96% of cases. Children with a high AP score obtained a positive diagnosis in 36% (girls) and 59% (boys) of cases. The association between paternal and maternal AP ratings and ADHD was the same, whereas the association between teacher AP ratings and ADHD was low. Conclusions: The association between AP and ADHD is higher in boys than girls, possibly because of a bias toward the male manifestation of ADHD. © 2006 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved

Towards User-Centric Operation in 5G Networks

© 2016 Monserrat et al. Open Access This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made.There are three pillars that characterize the new 5G revolution, namely, the use of heterogeneous wireless access technologies conforming an ultra-dense network, the software-driven flexibility of this network, and the simplified and user-centric operation and management of the system. This next-generation network operation and management shall be based on the usage of Big Data Analytics techniques to monitor the end-user quality of experience through direct measures of the network. This paper describes the Astellia approach towards this network revolution and presents some results on the performance of quality estimation techniques in current cellular networks. Thanks to the use of this approach, operators may fill the gap of knowledge between network key performance indicators and user experience. This way, they can operate in a proactive manner and have actual measurements of the users' experience, which leads to a fairer judgement of the users' complaints.The authors would like to thank the funding received from the Ministerio de Industria, Energia y Turismo TSI-100102-2013-106 funds.Monserrat Del Río, JF.; Alepuz Benaches, I.; Cabrejas Peñuelas, J.; Osa Ginés, V.; López Bayo, J.; García-Zarza, R.; Domenech-Benlloch, MJ.... (2016). Towards User-Centric Operation in 5G Networks. EURASIP Journal on Wireless Communications and Networking. 2016(6):1-7. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13638-015-0506-zS1720166J Monserrat et al., Rethinking the mobile and wireless network architecture: the METIS research into 5G, in European Conference on Networks and Communications (EuCNC), 2014, pp. 1–55G-PPP, The 5G Infrastructure Public Private Partnership: the next generation of communication networks and services, 2015. Available at http://5g-ppp.eu/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/5G-Vision-Brochure-v1.pdfJF Monserrat, M Fallgren (eds.), Report on simulation results and evaluations, 2015. ICT-317669 METIS Deliverable 6.5Z Yingxiao, Z Ying Jun, User-centric virtual cell design for Cloud Radio Access Networks, in IEEE Signal Processing Advances in Wireless Communications (SPAWC), 2014, pp. 249–253JF Monserrat, G Mange, V Braun, H Tullberg, G Zimmermann, Ö Bulakci, METIS research advances towards the 5G mobile and wireless system definition. EURASIP. J. Wirel. Commun. Netw. 2015, 53 (2015)F Boccardi, RW Heath, A Lozano, TL Marzetta, P Popovski, Five disruptive technology directions for 5G. IEEE. Commun. Mag. 52(2), 74–80 (2014)P Agyapong, M Iwamura, D Staehle, W Kiess, A Benjebbour, Design considerations for a 5G network architecture. IEEE. Commun. Mag. 52(11), 65–75 (2014)Nokia Siemens Networks, Acquisition and retention white paper, 2013. http://networks.nokia.com/sites/default/files/document/acquisition___retention_white_paper.pdfDZ Yazti, S Krishnaswamy, Mobile big data analytics: research, practice, and opportunities, in IEEE 15th International Conference on Mobile Data Management (MDM), 2014R Kreher, UMTS performance measurement: a practical guide to KPIs for the UTRAN environment (Wiley, Chichester, 2006)S Mehrotra, On the implementation of a primal-dual interior point method. SIAM. J. Optim. 2, 575–601 (1992)V Osa, J Matamales, J Monserrat, J Lopez, Localization in wireless networks: the potential of triangulation techniques. Wirel. Pers. Commun. 68(4), 1525–1538 (2013

High-Bandpass Filters in Electrocardiography: Source of Error in the Interpretation of the ST Segment

Introduction. Artifactual variations in the ST segment may lead to confusion with acute coronary syndromes. Objective. To evaluate how the technical characteristics of the recording mode may distort the ST segment. Material and Method. We made a series of electrocardiograms using different filter configurations in 45 asymptomatic patients. A spectral analysis of the electrocardiograms was made by discrete Fourier transforms, and an accurate recomposition of the ECG signal was obtained from the addition of successive harmonics. Digital high-pass filters of 0.05 and 0.5 Hz were used, and the resulting shapes were compared with the originals. Results. In 42 patients (93%) clinically significant alterations in ST segment level were detected. These changes were only seen in “real time mode” with high-pass filter of 0.5 Hz. Conclusions. Interpretation of the ST segment in “real time mode” should only be carried out using high-pass filters of 0.05 Hz.Buendıa Fuentes, F.; Arnau Vives, M.; Arnau Vives, A.; Jiménez Jiménez, Y.; Rueda-Soriano, J.; Zorio-Grima, E..; Osa-Saez, A.... (2012). High-Bandpass Filters in Electrocardiography: Source of Error in the Interpretation of the ST Segment. ISRN Cardiology. 2012:706217-706227. doi:10.5402/2012/706217S706217706227201

Plasmonic Control of Radiative Properties of Semiconductor Quantum Dots Coupled to Plasmonic Ring Cavities

In recent years, a lot of effort has been made to achieve controlled delivery of target particles to the hotspots of plasmonic nanoantennas, in order to probe and/or exploit the extremely large field enhancements produced by such structures. While in many cases such high fields are advantageous, there are instances where they should be avoided. In this work, we consider the implications of using the standard nanoantenna geometries when colloidal quantum dots are employed as target entities. We show that in this case, and for various reasons, dimer antennas are not the optimum choice. Plasmonic ring cavities are a better option despite low field enhancements, as they allow collective coupling of many quantum dots in a reproducible and predictable manner. In cases where larger field enhancements are required, or for larger quantum dots, nonconcentric ring-disk cavities can be employed instead

International comparisons of behavioral and emotional problems in preschool children: parents’ reports from 24 societies

International comparisons were conducted of preschool children’s behavioral and emotional problems as reported on the Child Behavior Checklist for Ages 1½–5 by parents in 24 societies (N¼19,850). Item ratings were aggregated into scores on syndromes; Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders–oriented scales; a Stress Problems scale; and Internalizing, Externalizing, and Total Problems scales. Effect sizes for scale score differences among the 24 societies ranged from small to medium (3–12%). Although societies differed greatly in language, culture, and other characteristics, Total Problems scores for 18 of the 24 societies were within 7.1 points of the omnicultural mean of 33.3 (on a scale of 0–198). Gender and age differences, as well as gender and age interactions with society, were all very small (effect sizes<1%). Across all pairs of societies, correlations between mean item ratings averaged .78, and correlations between internal consistency alphas for the scales averaged .92, indicating that the rank orders of mean item ratings and internal consistencies of scales were very similar across diverse societies