Teaching of Physical Education Course as a Fundamental Right of Students in Secondary Schools in Kenya: A Study of Bomet District

The purpose of this study was to assess the gap in policy between the promise and reality in physical education in secondary schools in Bomet District - Kenya. The objective was to establish the extent to which the teaching of physical education formed a fundamental right for students in secondary schools. Biological Sciences Curriculum Study model guided the study. This study utilized descriptive survey method of research. Sampling designs used were simple random, purposive and stratified random sampling. Questionnaire, interview guide and observation schedules were used to collect data and a total of 281 respondents took part in the study. Data analysis was done using descriptive and inferential statistics. It was found that the students were denied their right to be educated physically in secondary schools in Bomet District. This research recommends that the Directorate of Quality Assurance should deploy specialist physical educators to district levels that are responsible for the periodic supervision and evaluation of physical education in secondary schools. Key word: Physical educatio

Charged and Hydrophobic Surfaces on the A Chain of Shiga-Like Toxin 1 Recognize the C-Terminal Domain of Ribosomal Stalk Proteins

Shiga-like toxins are ribosome-inactivating proteins (RIP) produced by pathogenic E. coli strains that are responsible for hemorrhagic colitis and hemolytic uremic syndrome. The catalytic A1 chain of Shiga-like toxin 1 (SLT-1), a representative RIP, first docks onto a conserved peptide SD[D/E]DMGFGLFD located at the C-terminus of all three eukaryotic ribosomal stalk proteins and halts protein synthesis through the depurination of an adenine base in the sarcin-ricin loop of 28S rRNA. Here, we report that the A1 chain of SLT-1 rapidly binds to and dissociates from the C-terminal peptide with a monomeric dissociation constant of 13 µM. An alanine scan performed on the conserved peptide revealed that the SLT-1 A1 chain interacts with the anionic tripeptide DDD and the hydrophobic tetrapeptide motif FGLF within its sequence. Based on these 2 peptide motifs, SLT-1 A1 variants were generated that displayed decreased affinities for the stalk protein C-terminus and also correlated with reduced ribosome-inactivating activities in relation to the wild-type A1 chain. The toxin-peptide interaction and subsequent toxicity were shown to be mediated by cationic and hydrophobic docking surfaces on the SLT-1 catalytic domain. These docking surfaces are located on the opposite face of the catalytic cleft and suggest that the docking of the A1 chain to SDDDMGFGLFD may reorient its catalytic domain to face its RNA substrate. More importantly, both the delineated A1 chain ribosomal docking surfaces and the ribosomal peptide itself represent a target and a scaffold, respectively, for the design of generic inhibitors to block the action of RIPs

Engineered Toxins “Zymoxins” Are Activated by the HCV NS3 Protease by Removal of an Inhibitory Protein Domain

The synthesis of inactive enzyme precursors, also known as “zymogens,” serves as a mechanism for regulating the execution of selected catalytic activities in a desirable time and/or site. Zymogens are usually activated by proteolytic cleavage. Many viruses encode proteases that execute key proteolytic steps of the viral life cycle. Here, we describe a proof of concept for a therapeutic approach to fighting viral infections through eradication of virally infected cells exclusively, thus limiting virus production and spread. Using the hepatitis C virus (HCV) as a model, we designed two HCV NS3 protease-activated “zymogenized” chimeric toxins (which we denote “zymoxins”). In these recombinant constructs, the bacterial and plant toxins diphtheria toxin A (DTA) and Ricin A chain (RTA), respectively, were fused to rationally designed inhibitor peptides/domains via an HCV NS3 protease-cleavable linker. The above toxins were then fused to the binding and translocation domains of Pseudomonas exotoxin A in order to enable translocation into the mammalian cells cytoplasm. We show that these toxins exhibit NS3 cleavage dependent increase in enzymatic activity upon NS3 protease cleavage in vitro. Moreover, a higher level of cytotoxicity was observed when zymoxins were applied to NS3 expressing cells or to HCV infected cells, demonstrating a potential therapeutic window. The increase in toxin activity correlated with NS3 protease activity in the treated cells, thus the therapeutic window was larger in cells expressing recombinant NS3 than in HCV infected cells. This suggests that the “zymoxin” approach may be most appropriate for application to life-threatening acute infections where much higher levels of the activating protease would be expected

Assessment of Perceived Ease of Use and Instructional Use of ICT by Lecturers in Technical Training Institutions in Kenya

In the past ten years, Information Communication Technology (ICT) has become an essential part of our learning and development in education. The rapid development of these new technologies coupled with the worldwide challenge to educate all children has led to a global reform and development of teacher education and motivated educational Institutions to redesign and restructure their teaching methods to enable students equip themselves for the future. The main purpose of this study therefore was to explore the relationship between Perceived Ease of Use and instructional use of ICT by Lecturers in Technical Training Institutions in Kenya. The study adopted the quantitative research design. A sample size of 629 respondents was drawn from a total population of 2909 Lecturers in Technical Training Institutions in Kenya. Data were collected using questionnaires. The quantitative data obtained from the administrated questionnaires were analyzed using descriptive statistics. The findings indicated that use of ICT by lecturers’ is perceived to greatly improve instruction. The study recommends that lecturers be encouraged to use ICT for instructional purposes because it greatly improves the passage of instruction

An assessment of the Criteria used by Teachers in Selecting Learning Resources for Language Instruction in Secondary Schools in Uasin-Gishu County, Kenya

The main objective of this study was to establish the criteria used by teachers in the selection of learning resources for language instruction in Secondary Schools in Kenya. The study was carried out in Secondary Schools in Uasin-Gishu County in Kenya. This research adopted descriptive survey design. Stratified random sampling was used to select one hundred and sixty eight secondary school teachers to take part in the study. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze data, which was presented in tables, describing the findings through frequencies and percentages, inferences were then made from the same. The findings showed that when selecting learning resources for use in language instruction, teachers were guided mostly by the lesson objectives; level of syllabus coverage; age of pupils, and topic of study