Institutional Information and Knowledge Management for Development: The Case of Nairobi County Council, Kenya

Key construction professionals and decision makers in the housing sector in Nairobi County require adequate and relevant information for work tasks and policy formulation for solving housing deficit.  However, their efforts are sometimes thwarted due to lack of well-organized and accessible information. This paper investigates the difficulties that construction professionals encounter while accessing information at the Nairobi City Hall. This study was conducted between 2009 and 2010 using 39 Key construction professionals and 30 informants at Nairobi City Hall. The research utilised the Grounded Theory method of data analysis to generate research results. Findings indicated that improper handling of information materials makes the access of building information at Nairobi City Hall very difficult.  Secondly the research established that decision makers at Nairobi City Hall do not emphasise on the need for quality information management in the institution. The study recommended that the methods of accessing and disbursing of the information to the users be re-designed.  Keywords: Housing information, Information Access, Nairobi City Hal

Influence of parent youth interpersonal communication barriers on hiv aids prevention study of north kamagambo location migori county Kenya

This study examined the influence of parent and youth interpersonal communication barriers on HIV prevention in North Kamagambo Location, Migori County. The objectives of the study were: to investigate the existing nature of interpersonal communication between parent and youth on HIV prevention, to establish barriers to effective interpersonal communication between parent and youth on HIV prevention and to find out the measures that can be taken to overcome the barriers. The research questions that the study sought to answer were: what were the existing nature of interpersonal communication between parent and youth on HIV prevention? What were the barriers to effective interpersonal communication between parent and youth on HIV prevention? What measures should be taken to overcome those barriers? The study covered a population of 18,775 according to the 2009 National Census Report. The study was informed by literature that supported the presumption that, the youth rarely communicate with their parents on matters of HIV and this is a reality that increases their vulnerability. The study used Social Learning Theory and Health Belief Model to demonstrate how the youth can learn from their parents through modelling. However based on other social psychological and cultural factors, it is not always a process of a guaranteed learning and therefore Health Belief Model was also used to show how individuals adopt new health behaviours based on their personal beliefs of the benefits of such behaviours. Qualitative method was used to answer questions related to perception, attitude, emotion and opinion while quantitative method was to analyse the frequency of occurrence of thematic elements. Simple random sampling was used to select participants who consisted of fathers, mothers, sons and daughters with a target population of240, while stratified sampling was used to maintain the sample proportionality on the stratification. Focus group discussion and in-depth Interview revealed that, there was a problematic interpersonal communication relationship about HIV prevention between parents and their youth especially among well-educated parents. It was also established that, respondents depends on their cultural beliefs which hinders them from discussing sexual matters

Magnetohydrodynamic Flow over an Immersed Axi-Symmetrical Body with Curved Surface and Heat Transfer

In this paper analysis has been carried out on the effects of thermal radiation on unsteady flow of a Newtonian fluid over an immersed   axi-symmetrical body with curved surface in the presence of a uniform transverse magnetic field. The governing equations are made dimensionless and solved by finite difference method. The results for the velocity and temperature profiles are presented graphically along with the different range of dimensionless numbers of magnetic parameter M, Peclet number, Reynold number, Eckert number, Prandtl number etc. These results will have major application in designing bodies requiring high maneuverability and less resistance to the motion e.g. aerofoil and cooling fans. Keywords: Thermal radiation, curved surface, MHD, Heat transfe

MAGNETOHYDRODYNAMIC FLOW OVER AN IMMERSED AXI-SYMETRICAL BODY WITH CURVED SURFACE AND HEAT TRANSFER

In this paper analysis has been carried out on the effects of thermal radiation on unsteady flow of a Newtonian fluid over an immersed   axi-symmetrical body with curved surface in the presence of auniform transverse magnetic field. The governing equations are made dimensionless and solved by finite difference method. The results for the velocity and  temperature profiles are presented graphically along with the different range of dimensionless numbers of magnetic parameter M, percelt number, Reynold number, Eckert number,  prandtl number etc.These results will have major application in designing bodies requiring high maneuverability and less resistance to the motion e.g. aerofoil and cooling fans. Keywords: Thermal radiation; curved surface; MHD, Heat transfer

Industry portfolios, information diffusion and the predictability of stock returns in Kenya

A Research project Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Bachelor of Business Science in Financial Economics at Strathmore UniversityThis paper tests the hypothesis that stock return predictability exists in the Kenyan market. In particular, it investigates whether in the presence of gradual information diffusion, which is as a result of investors’ limited information processing ability, lagged industry portfolios excess returns are able to predict the NSE 20 stock market index excess returns, which serves as a proxy for the entire stock market. Five market capitalization weighted industry portfolios, namely Agriculture, Financial Services, Commercial and Services, Manufacturing and Energy and Transport are constructed using stock returns from the year 2005 to 2015. The lagged industry portfolio expected returns, the market expected returns and the industry portfolio residuals (both lagged and for the current period) are fitted into an information diffusion model and thereafter the industry predictability and information diffusion coefficients are estimated using the Arellano-Bond GMM Estimator. The findings suggest that there is no causal relationship between the industries and the stock market and no gradual information diffusion. This implies that for the Kenyan stock market, there is no stock return predictability when the analysis is performed using the industry and wider stock market approach

Cytokine profiles in highly active antiretroviral treatment non-adherent, adherent and naive HIV-1 infected patients in Western Kenya

Background: Cytokines play an important role in signaling the immune system to build an adequate immune responseagainst HIV. HIV distorts the balance between pro and anti-inflammatory cytokines causing viral replication. Highly active antiretroviral treatment (HAART) acts by trying to restore pro and anti-inflammatory cytokine balance. It is not clear how HAART non-adherence influences circulating cytokine levels. This study therefore determined cytokine levels in HAART non-adherent individuals. Methods: This cross-sectional study recruited 163 participants (51 controls, 23 HIV-1+ HAART naive, 28 HAART-adherent6 months, 19 HAART-adherent 12 months and 42 HAART non-adherent). Cytokines were analyzed by ELISA while CD4 T cells determined in 3.0 μl of whole blood using BD FACSCaliburTM and viral load in 0.2ml plasma sample using Abbott Molecular m2000sp sample preparation and m2000rt real-time amplification and detection systems (Abbott MolecularInc., Illinois, USA) according to the manufacturer’s methods. Results: IL-4, IL-6, IL-10, TNF-α and TGF-β were significantly elevated in HIV-1 HAART non-adherent compared withHIV-1 HAART adherent and healthy controls P<0.01. IFN- γ was significantly decreased in HIV-1 HAART non-adherentcompared with HIV-1 HAART adherent and healthy controls P<0.01. TNF-α and TGF-β were significantly reduced in HIV-1 HAART adherent patients at 12 months compared to those at 6 months P<0.01. IL-4 and IL-10 correlated positively withviral load. IL-4, IL-6, IL-10, TNF-α and TGF- β associated inversely with CD4 T cell counts and body mass index (BMI). Conclusion: This study established that HAART adherence is immunologically beneficial to the pro and anti-inflammatory cytokine balance milieu while non-adherence appears to cause alterations in pro and anti-inflammatory cytokines warping the balance in this dichotomy. Keywords: Cytokines; non-adherence; HAART

Identification of multiple unknown point sources occurring in the 2D transport equation: application to groundwater pollution source identification

This research article published by the Journal of Mathematical and Computational Science, 2020Water loss in the water distribution systems (WDS) is a challenge to many water authorities in the world but the problem is crucial in the less developed countries. The effect of water losses in the WDS includes the reduction in the revenue and availability of water, interruption in the quality of water, and inflation of the operation and maintenance cost of the water authorities. Using data from the Moshi Urban Water Supply and Sanitation Authority (MUWSA) Tanzania, an assessment of strategies used for water loss management (WLM) was carried out through an integrated model of MultiCriteria Decision Making (MCDM) and Integer Linear Programming (ILP) which is an optimisation technique. The family of MCDM methods, Multi-Attribute Value Theory (MAVT), Simple Multi-Attribute Rating Technique Exploiting Ranks (SMARTER), and Simple Additive Weighting (SAW) were employed to assess and prioritise the strategies while the ILP was used to formulate a decision model. The model was used to select a portfolio of the best strategies. Sixteen strategies were identified. The results show that the comparison between the bulk meter and customers’ meter on detecting the physical or apparent losses was ranked as the best strategy in managing the loss while the network zoning was ranked as the worst strategy. The model selected thirteen out of sixteen strategies to form the portfolio of the best strategies to be employed by the MUWSA for water loss management. Furthermore, the model was found to be robust as the selected portfolio of strategies remained the same even when the weights of the criteria were changed. The developed model in this study will assist the decision-makers to assess, prioritise and choose the best strategies for reducing or controlling water loss in the distribution system

Identification of the Time-Dependent Point Source in a System of two Coupled Two Dimension Diffusion-Advection-Reaction Equations: Application to Groundwater Pollution Source Identification

This research article published by Global Journal of Pure and Applied Mathematics, Volume 16, Number 3, 2020This paper addresses the inverse source problem in a system of two-dimension advection-dispersion reaction equation with an emphasis on groundwater pollution source identification. We develop an inverse source problem method for identifying the unknown groundwater point sources utilizing only the boundary and interior measurements. We develop an identifiability criterion of the point sources from recording the oxygen deficit concentration relative to the biochemical oxygen demand concentration. We have also established an identification method that uses the records of oxygen deficit concentration and biochemical oxygen demand concentration to identify the source position as a solution to nonlinear dispersion current equations. We recover the source intensity function using the multi-dimension inverse Laplace transform of the de-convolution function without any need of an iterative process. The inverse Laplace transforms are approximated by shifted Legendre Polynomials. The results show that the proposed inverse problem method is accurate

Phenotypic and Genotypic Antibiotic Resistant diarrheagenic Escherichia coli pathotypes isolated from Children with Diarrhea in Nairobi City, Kenya

BACKGROUND፡ The marked genome plasticity of diarrheagenic Escherichia coli promotes emergence of pathotypes displaying unique phenotypic and genotypic resistance. This study examined phenotypic and genotypic antibiotic resistant diarrheagenic Escherichia coli pathotypes among children in Nairobi City, Kenya.METHODS: In a cross-sectional study, diarrheagenic Escherichia coli pathotypes were isolated from stool samples and their phenotypic and genotypic resistance against eight antimicrobial agents assayed.RESULTS: Diarrheagenic Escherichia coli was detected in 136(36.4%) children. Most of diarrheagenic Escherichia coli that were resistant to ampicillin, ceftriaxone, streptomycin, gentamycin, ciprofloxacin, chloramphenicol, erythromycin and tetracycline, harbored citm, bla CMY, aadA1, aac(3)-IV, qnr, catA, ere(A) and tet(A) corresponding resistant genes.CONCLUSION: Antimicrobial-resistant genes are highly prevalent among phenotypic resistant ETEC pathotypes indicating a possibility of horizontal gene transfer in spreading antibiotic resistant genes among E. coli pathotypes

Assessing the long-term welfare effects of the biological control of cereal stemborer pests in East and Southern Africa: Evidence from Kenya, Mozambique and Zambia

The International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (icipe), undertook a biological control (BC) programme for control of stemborers from 1993 to 2008, to reduce cereal yield losses due to stemborer attack in East and Southern Africa. The programme released four biological control agents—the larval parasitoids Cotesia flavipes and Cotesia sesamiae, the egg parasitoid Telenomus isis and the pupal parasitoid Xanthopimpla stemmator—to control the economically important stemborer pests Busseola fusca, Chilo partellus and Sesamia calamistis. Two of the natural enemies that were released got established and spread to many localities in the region. This study adopted the economic surplus model based on production, market and GIS data to evaluate the economic benefits and cost-effectiveness of the programme in three countries—Kenya, Mozambique and Zambia. Findings show that the biological control intervention has contributed to an aggregate monetary surplus of US$1.4 billion to the economies of the three countries with 84$ 272 million for both crops and ranged from US$142 million for Kenya to US$ 39 million for Zambia. The attractive internal rate of return (IRR) of 67% compared to the considered discount rate of 10%, as well as the estimated benefit–cost ratio (BCR) of 33:1, illustrate the efficiency of investment in the BC research and intervention. The estimated number of people lifted out of poverty through the BC-programme was on average 57,400 persons (consumers and producers) per year in Kenya, 44,120 persons in Mozambique, and 36,170 persons in Zambia, representing an annual average reduction of poor populations, respectively of 0.35, 0.25 and 0.20% in each of the three countries. These findings underscore the need for increased investment in BC research to sustain cereal production and improve poor living conditions