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Trade generally has been linked to high economic growth and technology diffusion across and within economies. This study thus sets out to investigate, in the context of Nigeria, the economic growth impacts of technology and trade using three proxies of trade openness- the ratio of total exports and imports to the gross domestic product (GDP); the total volume of exports; and imports. Fixed telephone plus mobile cellular subscriptions were used as a proxy for technology. With data extracted from the World Development Indicators, three models were estimated using the autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) framework for cointegration and determination of long-run coefficients of parameters. Granger causality tests were performed to determine the direction of causalities. The results of all the tests were interpreted to arrive at the inferences and conclusions drawn for this work. Trade openness and exports were found to be detrimental to growth, while the positive impact of imports was not significant. Technology was found to significantly promote growth and Granger caused exports, imports, capital, and labor. All the diagnostics supported the validity of the assumptions of the regression errors and the specification of our models. We concluded that the growth impact of trade on Nigeria's economy is largely dependent on the technology intensity of its trade.

Public debt managers coordinate public borrowing and ensure a consistent, sustainable, and methodical debt management practice. Nigeria has been borrowing from sources that include multilateral, bilateral, and commercial lenders in a bid to fill its infrastructural gap. As of 2022, Nigeria’s public debt stood at US$101.9 billion which comprised US$62.2 billion in domestic debt and US$39.6 billion in external debt. However, despite the loans contracted over the years, there is an observed gap between her accumulated debt and the level of infrastructural development. The study, therefore, investigated debt management in Nigeria and its imperative for sustainable infrastructural development. The study employed a mixed-methods design. SPSS-based inferential statistics and content analysis were employed in data analysis. The study found that public debt management has no significant effect on sustainable infrastructural development in Nigeria (β = 0.002, t (198) = 0.040, p > 0.05. The study concluded that public debt management has no significant effect on sustainable infrastructural development in Nigeria. The National Assembly and the Federal Ministry of Finance should ensure that newly contracted external loans are tied to specific projects. The Federal Ministry of Finance in conjunction with the debt management office should create a special purpose vehicle for packaging domestic infrastructure bonds.

In essence, African political thought evolved as a result of colonialism and the anti-colonial reactions of first-order African elites. The debate among the episodic and the epochal school of thought over the place of colonialism in African political thought suggests that it took colonialism to inform the people of the continent that they were Africans. Also that Africa had a glorious pre-colonial past. It offered the diverse peoples of the continent a rallying point for unity. This unity was the basis of the anti-colonial reactions especially in the decade before political independence in Africa. This work attempts to examine the origin of African political thought, and the decolonization process in selected regions of the continent namely North-West Africa (Tunisia and Morocco) and British West-Africa. The main source of data collection depends on secondary materials

Human rights are often violated by individuals acting on behalf of the state. Police brutality reflects the struggle within the law enforcement circle to operate within the ambit of the legally allowed threshold needed to diffuse an incidence like civil disturbance or self-preservation by the law enforcement officers. Previous studies have been limited to the causes, consequences, and impact of police brutality and the generational economic effects on the minority groups. But few of these studies have investigated the historical, cultural, and political backgrounds to police brutality in the selected countries. This study, therefore, examined police brutality in Nigeria and the United States of America within these contexts. The paper adopted a phenomenology research design. This enabled the researcher to gain deeper understanding of the study phenomena by exploring the views of those who directly experienced police brutality in the selected countries. The study found that police brutality is deeply rooted in the colonial past of the two countries. The countries were both colonized by the British and they both inherited the Anglo-Saxon common law and their system of social justice. The study found areas of similarities and differences between the Nigerian policing system and the United States of America’s policing culture. The study revealed that the failure of the police force in the two countries to rein in corrupt elements in their rank is one of the factors encouraging police brutality in Nigeria and the United States of America respectively. The study also highlighted the negative effects of corruption in the Nigeria Police and the role it plays in police brutality in Nigeria. The study, therefore, recommended comprehensive reform of the Nigerian police force and that Police officers should be retrained on racial and minority sensitivity in the United States of America to reduce the incidence of police violence against civilians.

Noncirrhotic portal hypertension (NCPH) is a rare disease that may lead to serious clinical consequences. Currently, noninvasive tools for the assessment of NCPH are absent. We investigated the utility of spleen and liver volumetrics as a marker of the presence and severity of portal hypertension in this population. A cohort of NCPH patients evaluated between 2003 and 2015 was retrospectively studied. The association of spleen and liver volumes with the hepatic venous pressure gradient (HVPG) level was evaluated using locally weighted scatterplot smoothing curves. A cohort of patients with viral hepatitis-related liver disease was used as controls. Of the 86 patients with NCPH evaluated during the study period, 75 (mean age, 35 ± 17; 73% males) were included in the final analysis. Patients with portal hypertension had significantly higher spleen and liver to body mass index (BMI) ratios compared to patients with HVPG

SUMMARY In 1992, two well-conducted case–control studies used data from two different health maintenance organizations and demonstrated a 59–79% reduction in mortality from colorectal cancer (CRC) following exposure to sigmoidoscopy. These studies highlight the possibility of reducing mortality from CRC using population-based endoscopic screening. The development of fiber optics improved the technology, and the ease of performing flexible sigmoidoscopy (FS) with widespread adoption of this screening modality. To date, FS is the only endoscopic screening modality that has been shown to reduce mortality in randomized clinical trials. This article reviews the development of sigmoidoscopy, its use in CRC screening and the current reduced role of this proven screening modality, and explores new frontiers for population-based FS screening.

Objectives It is unclear if provider recommendations regarding colorectal cancer (CRC) screening modalities affect patient compliance. We evaluated provider–patient communications about CRC screening with and without a specific screening modality recommendation on patient compliance with screening guidelines. Methods We used the 2007 Health Information National Trends Survey (HINTS) and identified 4283 respondents who were at least 50 years of age and answered questions about their communication with their care providers and CRC screening uptake. We defined being compliant with CRC screening as the use of fecal occult blood testing (FOBT) within 1 year, sigmoidoscopy within 5 years, or colonoscopy within 10 years. We used survey weights in all analyses. Results CRC screening discussions occurred with 3320 (76.2%) respondents. Approximately 95% of these discussions were with physicians. Overall, 2793 (62.6%) respondents were current with CRC screening regardless of the screening modality. Discussion about screening (odds ratio (OR) = 8.83; 95% confidence interval (CI): 7.20–10.84) and providers making a specific recommendation about screening modality rather than leaving it to the patient to decide (OR = 2.04; 95% CI: 1.54–2.68) were associated with patient compliance with CRC screening guidelines. Conclusion Compliance with CRC screening guidelines is improved when providers discuss options and make specific screening test recommendations.

Background: Plasma homovanillic acid (HVA) and methoxy-hydroxy-phenylglycol (MHPG) are often used in repeated measurement designs to assess dopamine and norepinephrine metabolism in clinical research. However, only limited data on the reproducibility of these metabolites are currently available. Methods: Plasma HVA and MHPG were measured in normal volunteers on five nonconsecutive mornings under fasting conditions and restricted smoking and physical activity. Results: Intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC) for plasma HVA and MHPG across 5 days were determined to be 0.85 and 0.79, respectively. ICC improved to 0.90 for HVA and 0.91 for MHPG when the average of the first 2 days was examined against the average of the last 2 days. Conclusions: Results suggested that under controlled conditions plasma HVA and MHPG measurements have good reproducibility.