Large-Area Transfer of Nanometer-Thin C Films.

Fullerenes, with well-defined molecular structures and high scalability, hold promise as fundamental building blocks for creating a variety of carbon materials. The fabrication and transfer of large-area films with precisely controlled thicknesses and morphologies on desired surfaces are crucial for designing and developing fullerene-based materials and devices. In this work, we present strategies for solid-state transferring C molecular nanometer-thin films, with dimensions of centimeters in lateral size and thicknesses controlled in the range of 1-20 nm, onto various substrates.

Pure tone and speech audiometry of presbyacusis in a tertiary hospital in Kaduna, Nigeria: a cross-sectional study.

Introduction: presbyacusis is age-related hearing loss, manifesting as a bilateral symmetrical sensorineural hearing loss of adult-onset. It has different audiometric configurations and is associated with a decline in speech discrimination sensitivity. The objectives of the study were to determine the degree of hearing loss; types of presbyacusis; and speech discrimination score (SDS) of presbyacusics and to compare the SDS in different types of presbyacusis in patients seen at a tertiary hospital in Kaduna, Nigeria.

3D Microporosity Characterizations in the Heterogeneous Middle Jurassic Tuwaiq Mountain Formation: Insights into an Unconventional Sweet Spot.

Carbonate microporosity can vary significantly across depositional lithofacies and cycles, owing primarily to the high degree of heterogeneity in their pore sizes, pore throat radius, geometry, and connectivity. This is further compounded by the complex diagenetic alterations during various stages of burial. In addition, the presence of micropores, which are abundant in carbonate rocks, but not visible using conventional techniques, is challenging to characterize.

Prevalence and Pattern of Hearing Loss among Young Adults in Tertiary Institutions with Habitual Headphone/Earphone Usage in Kaduna Metropolis.

Background: World Health Organisation estimates that 1.1 billion young people worldwide could be at risk of hearing loss due to unsafe listening practises and nearly half of the teenagers and young adults are exposed to unsafe levels of sound from the use of personal audio devices.

Aim: This study aimed to determine the prevalence and pattern of hearing loss among students with habitual use of headphone/earphone in tertiary institutions in Kaduna.

Improving Program Outcomes Through Responsive Feedback: A Case Study of a Leadership Development Academy in Nigeria.

Background: In 2018, the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), under the Nigeria Federal Ministry of Health, recognized that inadequate personnel competencies limited its ability to provide technical assistance to state primary health care development boards (SPHCBs). In response, NPHCDA instituted a cohort-based leadership development academy (LDA) to develop its staff's leadership and management skills.

Nphcda Leadership Development Academy Program: A baseline assessment identified critical gaps in leadership and management competencies.

The return volatility of cryptocurrencies during the COVID-19 pandemic: Assessing the news effect.

In this paper, we test the role of news in the predictability of return volatility of digital currency market during the COVID-19 pandemic. We use hourly data for cryptocurrencies and daily data for the news indicator, thus, the GARCH MIDAS framework which allows for mixed data frequencies is adopted. We validate the presupposition that fear-induced news triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic increases the return volatilities of the cryptocurrencies compared with the period before the pandemic.

Characteristics, distribution, and origin of ferruginous deposits within the Late Ordovician glaciogenic setting of Arabia.

Ferruginous deposits are iron-rich sediments or sedimentary rocks found in various sizes, shapes, and compositions within sedimentary strata in different depositional settings. This study investigates the characteristics, distribution, and origin of ferruginous deposits found in the Late Ordovician glaciogenic Sarah Formation and surrounding deposits in central Saudi Arabia. Several types of ferruginous deposits have been identified through field observations and laboratory investigations, including thin-section petrography, geochemical, surface, and bulk mineralogical analyses, and computed tomography scans.

Impact of smoking on nasal mucociliary clearance time in Kano metropolis, Nigeria.

Background: Mucociliary clearance is an important defense mechanism in human upper and lower respiratory airways. Impairment of this process by certain conditions such as cigarette smoking can predispose to chronic infection and neoplasm of the nose and paranasal sinuses.

Methods: This was a cross-sectional study conducted in Kano metropolis, Nigeria.

The predictive power of Bitcoin prices for the realized volatility of US stock sector returns.

This paper is motivated by Bitcoin's rapid ascension into mainstream finance and recent evidence of a strong relationship between Bitcoin and US stock markets. It is also motivated by a lack of empirical studies on whether Bitcoin prices contain useful information for the volatility of US stock returns, particularly at the sectoral level of data. We specifically assess Bitcoin prices' ability to predict the volatility of US composite and sectoral stock indices using both in-sample and out-of-sample analyses over multiple forecast horizons, based on daily data from November 22, 2017, to December, 30, 2021.

COVID-19 and oil market risks: Evidence from new datasets.

We evaluate the predictive value of the newly constructed six COVID-19 indices for oil market risks from 31st December, 2019 (when COVID-19 started) to 28th December, 2021. We show that, on average, higher values of the COVID-19 indices appear to have heightened oil market risks albeit with the converse for Vaccine index regardless of the choice of oil price proxy. The predictive value of the indices is sustained over multiple out-of-sample forecasts and we attribute the outcome to the increased uncertainties associated with the pandemic.

Allergic rhinitis: An indicator of otitis media with effusion in children seen at aminu kano teaching hospital, Kano.

Background: Allergic rhinitis (AR) is a multifocal IgE-mediated type I hypersensitivity reaction involving nasal mucosa characterized by excessive sneezing, watery rhinorrhea, nasal itching, nasal stuffiness, and eyes itching. Tympanometry is a simple, rapid, and objective test that can be easily carried out. The use of tympanometry in clinical setting can improve detection of middle ear effusion and other middle ear abnormalities.

COVID-19 pandemic and financial innovations.

This study is motivated around the COVID-19 pandemic as a source of rising financial market risks. Hence, we investigate whether pandemic-induced risks can be hedged by alternative investment in financial innovations captured in exchange traded funds (ETFs). We explore the hedging effectiveness of sectoral ETFs along with a battery of robustness measures.

A Rare Case of Low-grade Nasopharyngeal Papillary Adenocarcinoma in a Young Adult Woman: A Case Report from a Tertiary Hospital in Northwestern Nigeria.

Low-grade nasopharyngeal papillary adenocarcinoma (NPAC) is a rare nasopharyngeal malignancy that runs an indolent course. It presents with a variety of symptoms including but not limited to nasal obstruction, runny nose, postnasal drip, and nasal bleeding. The main stay of treatment is surgery, but other adjuvant treatments including radiotherapy and photodynamic therapy have been used with varying degrees of successes.

Prevalence of modifiable cardiovascular risk factors among undergraduate students in Kano Nigeria: A need for action.

Objective: Early adulthood is a period characterised by many lifestyle choices that could predispose an individual to cardiovascular disease (CVD) later in life. However, data on CVD risk factors among young adults in sub-Saharan Africa are lacking. We aim to determine the prevalence of modifiable CVD risk factors among undergraduates in Kano, Nigeria.

Audiologic Evaluation of Patients with Head and Neck Cancers Treated with Cisplatin Based Chemotherapy: A Longitudinal Study.

Background: Recently, the incidence of head and neck cancers are on the increase globally and particularly in our environment. In addition, concurrent platinum-based chemoradiotherapy has become widely used in the treatment of head and neck malignancies. The objective of this study was to determine the effect of cisplatin-based chemotherapy on hearing in patients with head and neck cancers at our University Teaching Hospital.

The U.S. Nonfarm Payroll and the out-of-sample predictability of output growth for over six decades.

We examine the predictive prowess of the U.S. Nonfarm Payroll (USNFP) for output growth in the U.

Patient and health facility attributes associated with retention and virologic suppression in private for-profit health facilities in Nigeria.

Background: In Nigeria, private for-profit health facilities present an opportunity to achieve the UNAIDS 95-95-95 HIV targets because of their reach and patronage. However, little is known about determinants of outcomes in these facilities. This study describes patient outcomes and the patient and health facility characteristics associated with these outcomes in adults receiving HIV treatment in private facilities in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Benue and Nasarawa states in north-central Nigeria.

Comparison of the Intestinal Bacteria Between Black Seabass Centropristis striata Reared in Recirculating Aquaculture System and Net Pen.

Determination of diversity and function of the bacteria in fish gut is essential to understanding the interaction between intestinal bacteria and their host organism. This study compared intestinal bacterial community of black seabass (Centropristis striata) hatched by the same breeding farm but reared in different aquaculture systems, an indoor recirculating aquaculture system (RAS) and an inshore net pen (INP). The fish were fed with formulated feed manufactured by same feed company.

COVID-19 pandemic and the crude oil market risk: hedging options with non-energy financial innovations.

This study examines the hedging effectiveness of financial innovations against crude oil investment risks, both before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. We focus on the non-energy exchange traded funds (ETFs) as proxies for financial innovations given the potential positive correlation between energy variants and crude oil proxies. We employ a multivariate volatility modeling framework that accounts for important statistical features of the non-energy ETFs and oil price series in the computation of optimal weights and optimal hedging ratios.

Global evidence of the COVID-19 shock on real equity prices and real exchange rates: A counterfactual analysis with a threshold-augmented GVAR model.

In this study, we offer a global perspective on the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on financial markets using a multi-country Threshold-Augmented Global Vector Autoregressive Model of Chudik et al. (2020). We document a negative impact of the pandemic on real equity prices across countries (except the United States) and country groupings with the highest negative impact recorded in 2020Q2.

Gold and US sectoral stocks during COVID-19 pandemic.

In this study, we examine the hedging relationship between gold and US sectoral stocks during the COVID-19 pandemic. We employ a multivariate volatility framework, which accounts for salient features of the series in the computation of optimal weights and optimal hedging ratios. We find evidence of hedging effectiveness between gold and sectoral stocks, albeit with lower performance, during the pandemic.

Assessing the hedging potential of gold and other precious metals against uncertainty due to epidemics and pandemics.

We assess the hedging capabilities of four prominent precious metals namely gold, palladium, platinum and silver against market risks due to epidemics and pandemics. The research objective is informed by the COVID-19 pandemic which amplifies health risks with attendant concerns for financial markets. We utilize the health-related uncertainty index developed by Baker et al.

Hedging oil price risk with gold during COVID-19 pandemic.

This paper assesses the role of gold as a safe haven or hedge against crude oil price risks. We employ the asymmetric VARMA-GARCH model, using daily data from January 2016 to August 2020. To account for the impact of COVID-19 pandemic, we partitioned the data into two to reflect the periods before and during the pandemic.

Determinants of hearing loss in children with cerebral palsy in Kano, Nigeria.

Background: Cerebral palsy (CP) is a commonly occurring disorder of movement and posture that starts in early childhood. It is accompanied by other disturbances including hearing loss which has been shown to worsen the quality of life of the patients due to problems associated with speech and language acquisition. Several factors are responsible for developing hearing loss in CP.

High prevalence of serological weak D phenotype and preponderance of weak D type 4.0.1. genetic variant in a Nigerian population: implications for transfusion practice in a resource-limited setting.

Introduction: Prevalence of RhD negative phenotype in Nigeria is low; this leads to scarcity of RhD negative red cells for transfusion. Serological and molecular genotyping of RhD negative individuals for weak D types could reduce this scarcity. The aim of this study was to determine the serological prevalence and molecular types of weak D phenotypes among blood donors and pregnant women in Kano, Nigeria.