Stock price prediction is an important topic in finance and economics which has spurred the interest of researchers over the years to develop better predictive models. The autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) models have been explored in literature for time series prediction. This paper presents extensive process of building stock price predictive model using the ARIMA model. Published stock data obtained from New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and Nigeria Stock Exchange (NSE) are used with stock price predictive model developed. Results obtained revealed that the ARIMA model has a strong potential for short-term prediction and can compete favourably with existing techniques for stock price prediction.

This paper examines the forecasting performance of ARIMA and artificial neural networks model with published stock data obtained from New York Stock Exchange. The empirical results obtained reveal the superiority of neural networks model over ARIMA model. The findings further resolve and clarify contradictory opinions reported in literature over the superiority of neural networks and ARIMA model and vice versa.

Symbiotic Organisms Search (SOS) algorithm is an effective new metaheuristic search algorithm, which has recently recorded wider application in solving complex optimization problems. SOS mimics the symbiotic relationship strategies adopted by organisms in the ecosystem for survival. This paper, presents a study on the application of SOS with Simulated Annealing (SA) to solve the well-known traveling salesman problems (TSPs). The TSP is known to be NP-hard, which consist of a set of (− 1)!/2 feasible solutions. The intent of the proposed hybrid method is to evaluate the convergence behaviour and scalability of the symbiotic organism's search with simulated annealing to solve both small and large-scale travelling salesman problems. The implementation of the SA based SOS (SOS-SA) algorithm was done in the MATLAB environment. To inspect the performance of the proposed hybrid optimization method, experiments on the solution convergence, average execution time, and percentage deviations of both the best and average solutions to the best known solution were conducted. Similarly, in order to obtain unbiased and comprehensive comparisons, descriptive statistics such as mean, standard deviation, minimum, maximum and range were used to describe each of the algorithms, in the analysis section. The oneway ANOVA and Kruskal-Wallis test were further used to compare the significant difference in performance between SOS-SA and the other selected state-of-the-art algorithms. The performances of SOS-SA and SOS are evaluated on different sets of TSP benchmarks obtained from TSPLIB (a library containing samples of TSP instances). The empirical analysis' results show that the quality of the final results as well as the convergence rate of the new algorithm in some cases produced even more superior solutions than the best known TSP benchmarked results.

Phishing is one of the major challenges faced by the world of e-commerce today. Thanks to phishing attacks, billions of dollars have been lost by many companies and individuals. In 2012, an online report put the loss due to phishing attack at about $1.5 billion. This global impact of phishing attacks will continue to be on the increase and thus requires more efficient phishing detection techniques to curb the menace. This paper investigates and reports the use of random forest machine learning algorithm in classification of phishing attacks, with the major objective of developing an improved phishing email classifier with better prediction accuracy and fewer numbers of features. From a dataset consisting of 2000 phishing and ham emails, a set of prominent phishing email features (identified from the literature) were extracted and used by the machine learning algorithm with a resulting classification accuracy of 99.7% and low false negative (FN) and false positive (FP) rates.

The aim of this paper is to review the literature and identify orofacial manifestations of hematological diseases, with particular reference to anemias and disorders of hemostasis. A computerized literature search using MEDLINE was conducted for published articles on orofacial manifestations of hematological diseases, with emphasis on anemia. Mesh phrases used in the search were: oral diseases AND anaemia; orofacial diseases AND anaemia; orofacial lesions AND anaemia; orofacial manifestations AND disorders of haemostasis. The Boolean operator "AND" was used to combine and narrow the searches. Anemic disorders associated with orofacial signs and symptoms include iron deficiency anemia, Plummer-Vinson syndrome, megaloblastic anemia, sickle cell anemia, thalassaemia and aplastic anemia. The manifestations include conjunctiva and facial pallor, atrophic glossitis, angular stomatitis, dysphagia, magenta tongue, midfacial overgrowth, osteoclerosis, osteomyelitis and paraesthesia/anesthesia of the mental nerve. Orofacial petechiae, conjunctivae hemorrhage, nose-bleeding, spontaneous and post-traumatic gingival hemorrhage and prolonged post-extraction bleeding are common orofacial manifestations of inherited hemostatic disorders such as von Willebrand's disease and hemophilia. A wide array of anemic and hemostatic disorders encountered in internal medicine has manifestations in the oral cavity and the facial region. Most of these manifestations are non-specific, but should alert the hematologist and the dental surgeon to the possibilities of a concurrent disease of hemopoiesis or hemostasis or a latent one that may subsequently manifest itself.

Objectives: Hematologic abnormalities, indicated by a deranged full blood count, are common manifestations and important prognostic tools for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection and AIDS. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of cytopenia and its relationship to the degree of immunosupression in HIV treatment-naïve patients. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study of treatment-naïve HIV-infected clients who enrolled at the HIV clinic of Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH) between December 2009 and June 2010. Participants had samples taken for full blood count and CD4 counts, which are free routine pre-requisite and pre-treatment evaluations done for all registered HIV patients at LASUTH. They were asked to fill the structured questionnaires to obtain demographic data, with assistance if necessary. Results: A total of 205 cases were reviewed: 24.2% had anemia (PCV , 30%), 26.8% had leucopenia (white blood cell ,4,000/L) and 16.1% had thrombocytopenia (platelet count ,150,000/L) at enrollment. The degree of cytopenia was directly related to the degree of immunosupression. Conclusion: About one-fifth of HIV treatment-naïve patients were cytopenic at enrollment and the degree of cytopenia was directly related to the degree of immunosupression. It is necessary to investigate various causes of cytopenia in these patients so as to administer a specific intervention.

BackgroundSickle cell disease is a genetic abnormality involving the haemoglobin. Although, it is primarily a red cell disorders, the white blood cells and platelets are also affected by the mutation. The consequent haemoglobin S causes polymerization of haemoglobin resulting in haemolysis and anaemia. This study aims to provide baseline haematological values in sickle cell disease patients in steady state and compare the deviation from haemoglobin phenotype AA control values.MethodsA case–control study was conducted amongst homozygous sickle cell patients attending the sickle cell clinics of Lagos State University Teaching Hospital Ikeja and haemoglobin phenotype AA controls. About 4.5mls of blood sample was collected from each participant for full blood count analysis. All blood samples were screened for HIV and haemoglobin phenotypes confirmed using cellulose acetate haemoglobin electrophoresis at pH 8.6.ResultsA total of 103 cases and 98 controls were enrolled. The overall mean haemoglobin concentration for cases was 7.93 ± 1.47 g/dl, packed cell volume 24.44 ± 4.68%, mean cell volume 81.52 ± 7.89 fl, and mean cell haemoglobin 26.50 ± 3.20 pg. While for controls, mean haemoglobin concentration was 13.83 ± 1.32 g/dl, packed cell volume 43.07 ± 3.95%, mean cell volume 86.90 ± 4.69 fl, and mean cell haemoglobin 28.50 ± 1.34 pg. The overall mean white blood cell counts for the cases was 10.27 ± 3.94 *103/μl and platelet counts of 412.71 ± 145.09*103/μl. While white blood cell count for the controls was 5.67 ± 1.59*103/μl and platelet counts of 222.82 ± 57.62*103/μl.ConclusionHomozygous sickle cell disease patients have lower values of red cell parameters, but higher values of white cell and platelets counts compared to haemoglobin phenotype AA controls.

IntroductionThe Mean platelet volume and platelet counts are indicators of thrombotic potentials, and risk factors for microvascular complications in diabetics. This study aimed to establish variations in platelet counts and mean platelet volume in type 2 diabetic patients on treatment and non-diabetic controls.MethodsThis was an unmatched case-control study involving 200 participants consisting of 100 diabetics and 100 non-diabetic controls. Four and half milliliters of blood was collected from diabetics and non diabetic controls into EDTA anticoagulant tubes. Full blood count was performed using the Sysmex KN-21N, (manufactured by Sysmex corporation Kobe, Japan) a three- part auto analyzer able to run 19 parameters per sample including platelet counts and mean platelet volume.ResultsThe mean fasting blood sugar for the diabetics was 147.85±72.54 mg/dl and the controls 95.20±30.10 mg/dl. The mean platelet count for the diabetics was 235.29±76.81*109/L and controls, 211.32±66.44*109/L. The mean platelet volume, for the diabetics was 8.69±0.67 fl and the controls, 8.91±0.80 fl. There was a statistically significant difference in platelet counts of diabetics and healthy controls p =0.038 while none existed between the mean platelet volume in diabetics and healthy controls p = 0.593.ConclusionThis study revealed a higher mean platelet count for diabetics on treatment than for non diabetic controls while mean platelet volume was lower in cases than controls. However, both parameters in diabetics on treatment were within the normal reference range for healthy individuals.