Some aspects of water quality characteristics in small shallow tropical man-made reservoirs in Kenya

The water quality in eight small reservoirs (0.065-0.249 km2) in both the rugged escarpment landscape above the rift valley floor and the stepped plateau above them were studied  between 1998 and 2000. Water transparency was measured using a 20cm Secchi visibility disk. Total dissolved solids (TDS) and electrical conductivity (specific conductance) with temperature compensation at 25oC were recorded in situ from a portable Jenway probe model 4075. Water pH, dissolved oxygen (DO), percentage oxygen saturation (POS) were recorded on site from a portable WTW probe model ProfiLine Oxi 197/197-S. The overall range of mean water pH was 7.0 – 8.4 while the overall rangeof mean TDS was 29-82 mg/l. The TDS was slightly higher in the plateau reservoirs. The overall range of specific conductance was 37-101 μS/cm. The range of TDS and specific conductance in the reservoirs was quite low compared to other reservoirs in Kenya. The mean range of dissolved oxygen and percentage oxygen saturation was 2.0-7.2 mg/l, 23.4.2-33.6%, respectively. The level of dissolved oxygen was quite low in most reservoirs with dry season hypolimnial oxygen deficits in some sites and higher dissolved oxygen content in the more transparent reservoirs. The summary results showed a cleardifference in water quality between the plateau and escarpment reservoirs in the study area. The water quality in the reservoirs was found to be suitable for domestic and livestock utilization.However, additional water quality parameters are required to confirm this conclusion. The reservoirs were found to possess a good potential for multipurpose development

Determinants Of Efficient Networks: An Empirical Analysis

Although management support and user involvement have been reported to be contributors of network success, vendor support may be one of the most determinants of network efficiency.  The user of any system takes what has been given to him or her by vendors and is only perfected by habituation. The other factor that may determine the implementation of effective network is traffic measurement, which is achieved by measuring server performance, network performance and application performance

Data Quality, Power, And Politics: Analysis Of Strategic Decision Making

Most decision makers have biases that are inherent the way they seek information, estimate the outcomes, and attach values to outcomes that produce rational behavior.  Many aspects of decision-making may not be accurate because of information processing limitations, power and politics.  This paper presents a set of ideas, models, and limitations caused by biases of a decision maker when sorting information

Teaching Accounting Online: Dealing With Challenging Situations

This paper chronicles the issues and concerns of teaching an online accounting course.  The issues discussed in this paper constitute the barest minimum that online instructors should address as they contemplate offering an online accounting course.  Analysis of the following crucial factors that impact online teaching such as, knowledge of the online process; technical skills of online teaching; online communication and moderation skills; confidence and motivation are presented.  This paper will present an analysis of teaching and learning issues, which may provide the basis of guidelines for best practice.  It is further noted in this paper that effective institutional support is equally instrumental in successful implementation of online teaching

EFFECT OF FARMER GROUP MEMBERSHIP ON AGRICULTURAL TECHNOLOGY ADOPTION AND CROP PRODUCTIVITY IN UGANDA

The deteriorating agricultural performance over the past decade that coincided with the duration of targeting farmer groups as the sole public supported extension approach in Uganda, calls for intervention on agricultural information dissemination. Uganda Census of Agriculture database of 2008 - 2009 was used to evaluate the effect of farmer group membership on agricultural technology adoption and crop productivity. This particular study aimed at providing policy; answers to whether the use of farmer\u2019 groups approach in agricultural information dissemination is resulting in increased adoption of technologies and improved yields. Descriptive statistics and results of translog production function, and propensity score matching were used to provide insights into household major characteristics and to assess the impacts of group membership on adoption of technology and agricultural productivity. Membership to farmer groups in Uganda is low. Only 16 percent of household heads belonged to a group. Although membership to groups resulted in increased yields for banana and cassava, negative impacts were observed for sweet potatoes, beans and maize. Group members were less likely to adopt inorganic fertilisers (P<0.01) and improved seed (P<0.05) than non-groups members. Although not significant (P<0.05), group members\u2019 achievement of yields of 3 and 2 t ha-1, respectively, for banana and cassava than non-group members is quite high and of interest for development agencies. On the other hand, non-group members\u2019 sweet potato yields were 1.0 tonne per hectare, higher than group\u2019s members although not significant (P>0.05).La d\ue9t\ue9rioration du niveau de performance agricole au cours des dix derni\ue8res ann\ue9es co\uefncide avec la dur\ue9 de la strat\ue9gie de d\u2019utilisation des associations de producteurs comme unique approche de vulgarisation appuy\ue9e par le gouvernement en Ouganda, ce qui n\ue9cessite des interventions en ce qui concerne la diffusion de l\u2019information agricole. Les donn\ue9es d\u2019une enqu\ueate nationale en 2008-2009 sur l\u2019Agriculture en Ouganda ont \ue9t\ue9 utilis\ue9es pour \ue9valuer l\u2019effet d\u2019organiser les producteurs en associations sur l\u2019adoption des technologies et la productivit\ue9 agricole. L\u2019objectif de cette \ue9tude \ue9tait de d\u2019\ue9clairer les politiques agricoles sur la question de savoir si l\u2019approche d\u2019utiliser les associations des producteurs pour diffuser l\u2019information agricole r\ue9sulte en une am\ue9lioration du niveau d\u2019adoption des technologies et d\u2019une augmentation de la productivit\ue9 agricole. Les statistiques descriptives et les r\ue9sultats de la fonction translog de production et le score de tendance correspondant \ue9taient utilis\ue9s pour fournir d\u2019information sur les caract\ue9ristiques principales des m\ue9nages, et \ue9valuer les impacts de l\u2019appartenance aux associations sur l\u2019adoption des technologies et la productivit\ue9 agricole: Le niveau d\u2019adh\ue9sion aux associations est faible en Ouganda\ua0avec seulement 16% des chefs des m\ue9nages appartenant \ue0 une association. Bien que l\u2019adh\ue9sion aux associations a entrain\ue9 une augmentation des rendements pour les cultures de la banane et le manioc, des impacts n\ue9gatifs \ue9taient observ\ue9s pour la patate douce, le haricot et la ma\uefs. Les membres des associations \ue9taient les moins enclins \ue0 adopter l\u2019utilisation des engrais min\ue9raux (P<0.01) et les semences am\ue9lior\ue9es(P<0.05) par rapport au non adh\ue9rents. Bien que pas significatif (P<0.05), les diff\ue9rences de rendement de 3 et 2 t ha-1 respectivement pour le bananier et le manioc obtenus par les adh\ue9rents aux associations par rapport aux non adh\ue9rents est tout \ue0 fait \ue9lev\ue9e et d\u2019int\ue9r\ueat pour les agences de d\ue9veloppement. D\u2019autre part, les non adh\ue9rents ont des rendement de patate douce de 1.0 t ha-1 tout \ue0 fait plus \ue9lev\ue9 que celui obtenu par les adh\ue9rents aux associations bien que la diff\ue9rence n\u2019\ue9tait pas significative (P<0.05)

Strategies For Gaining Competitive Advantage In A Dynamic Environment Thru Data Quality

Raw data should be treated as materials for manufacturing products so that organizations can identify errors which otherwise could not be detected. Information system can be studied from the same perspective of product manufacturing

International Financial Accounting Standards And The Continent Of Africa

In response to the increased globalization of both commercial and financial markets and increased frequency of corporate scandals, the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) has spearheaded an international initiative to standardize corporate financial reporting. This effort involves setting the standards, creating a process of adopting the standards that is tailored to the needs of each nation, overcoming the challenges of implementation that many countries face and ensuring continued observance of the standards once they are adopted. This paper focuses on the implementation of IFAC standards in the African Continent. An examination of IFAC’s mission, its membership requirements and ongoing compliance program, and its assistance to developing nations will illustrate the current status of African nations in the standardization process. The countries representing the African continent possess many promising opportunities for growth and prosperity in the global economy and also present many distinct obstacles in their effort to embrace and implement the IFAC initiative. The approach used in this paper is to examine broadly the challenges faced by the different regions within Africa. This approach takes into account political, economic, cultural and religious differences found in distinct regions within the continent

E-Commerce And Small Business Enterprise Some Evidence From Northern New Jersey

The purpose of this research was to investigate the extent to which small businesses in Northern New Jersey are prepared for e-commerce. The Internet has changed the market place and the face of business more dramatically than any other technological innovation since the Industrial Revolution. In the last ten years, the Internet has changed and fundamentally restructured business to business, business to consumer and consumer to consumer relationships. Internet based commerce is estimated to be growing at the rate of 200% per annum and the volume of Internet commerce is estimated to exceed $2 trillion by 2003

Predator-Proof Bomas as a Tool in Mitigating Human-Predator Conflict in Loitokitok Sub-County, Amboseli Region of Kenya.

Abstract Human-wildlife conflict (HWC) arises when wildlife shares the same physical space with humans. HWC, particularly livestock predation results in great negative impacts both to pastoralist and carnivores. Various approaches including compensation, livestock guarding, translocation of the problematic predator, and predator-proof bomas (PPB) have been used to mitigate such conflicts. We assessed PPB in mitigating human-predator conflict in Loitokitok sub-county by focusing on its effectiveness, most problematic predator, community's perceptions, and comparing the PPB and traditional bomas characteristics. Data were obtained from 90 homesteads in Olgulului, Mbirikani and Kimana/Tikondo group ranches. Correlation and paired t-tests were used to analyze the data. Our findings suggest that the boma sizes correlated with the total number of livestock in the boma (r = 0.386, n = 90, p = 0.000) but not the number of people. Hyena and lion accounted for the highest loss of shoats and cattle, with hyena mostly killing shoats (37%) and lions preying largely on cattle (34%). The most problematic predator was as hyena (68%). We found positive relationships between the most problematic predator and total number of livestock (r = 0.319, n = 90, p = 0.002), and boma circumference (r = 0.295, n = 90, p = 0.005). Livestock predation was high in boma during the wet seasons (April, September, October and December). The erection of PPB reduced livestock predation by 91.11% (n = 45) and time spend guarding livestock at night. We recommend a continuous maintenance of the PPB as a long term solution to livestock loss at night and a close guarding of livestock during the day by adults to reduce day time predations

AN ENVELOPMENT ANALYSIS APPROACH TO MEASURING THE EFFICIENCY AND EFFECTIVENESS OF COMMERCIAL BANKS IN EAST AFRICA

The purpose of this paper was to analyse the efficiency, effectiveness, and performance of 63 commercial banks operating in the East African Community States using a two-stage performance evaluation model. This paper is perhaps the first to evaluate the performance of East African commercial banks by considering simultaneously the aspects of efficiency and effectiveness. Using cross-sectional data for the financial years 2006-2011, the technique of data envelopment analysis was used for computing the efficiency and effectiveness scores for individual commercial banks in the East African Community (EAC). The overall performance scores have been derived by taking the product of efficiency and effectiveness scores. The empirical results reveal that high efficiency does not imply high effectiveness in the East African banking industry. A positive and strong correlation between effectiveness and performance measures has been noted. Large banks score better than small banks in efficiency, effectiveness and overall performance