Determinants of Employee retirement Intentions Decisions In Private Sector In Kenya: A Survey Of Employees Of Finlay (K) Limited.

Retirement refers to the time when an employee reaches the end of his working life. Retirement is regarded as important stage in human development all over the world. Retirement is an inevitable activity in the lives of workers. Factors influencing employee retirement decision studied individual predictors of early retirement are age, financial status and health. For example among older people, those in more favorable financial situation and those in ill health were found to aim for early retirement. Specific objectives; To identify work factors that influence employee’s decision to retire early, To find out work factors that influence employees to postpone retirement and To find out stage in their employment life that such intentions develop. Financial issues- retirement brings many changes to both income and expenditure to the employer. The researcher was use case study research design as it gives a clear representation of the variable under study, The target population was be subdivided into three status  namely:  top management, departmental heads and employees. The data used in the study was obtained from questionnaires that were distributed to the respondents from a sample selected randomly. The purpose of the research study was to assess factors influencing employees’ retirement decision, a case study of James Finlay (K) Ltd. From the findings of the study, it shows that there is a great importance of recognizing the various stages in the employment life so as to motivate employees so that they can perform and improve on the organization productivity. This study has an advanced knowledge by accessing factors influencing retirement decision deeply. In most instances, the research study gained support and courage from prior researches conducted across different organizations in different countries of the world, and therefore, generalizability is not so much of a surprising fact, or similarity in ways of framing it, but this is a unique product. Key Words: Retirement intensions, Factors, workforce, Decision

Changes in gonad of Nile Tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) fed with crude extract of guava (Psidium guajava Linnaeus) leaves

Tilapia is fraught with the problem of prolific breeding which usually leads to stunt growth thus making the fish undesirable for consumers. A56-days study was done to investigate the antifertility potential of P. guajava leaves extract on Oreochromis niloticus gonad, the sub-lethal concentrations were earlier reported to inhibit reproduction in the fish species. Oreochromis niloticus of mean weight 29.30±2.02-31.79±3.11 were divided into 6 groups replicated three times. Fishes were stocked in outdoor concrete tanks supplied with 450 litres of water. Six experimental diets (35% crude protein) containing varying sub-lethal concentrations of P. guajava leaf crude extract (0.0, 0.5, 1.0, 2.0, 4.0 and 8.0gkg-1 diets) were formulated (representing O, A, B, C, D and E respectively; O serve as the control). The ovary and testis of fish fed control diet showed normal ovarian tissues and normal distribution of the testicular tissues. Mild atresia and reproduction in the oocytes were observed in the ovaries as the concentration of the crude extract increased from 0.5- 8.0gkg-1, while in the testes mild to severe atrophy and cystic seminiferous tubules were observed. This study infers that, for sustainable growth of Tilapia culture, P. guajava could be used to solve the problem of prolific breeding, thus energy used in reproduction can be converted to growth.Keywords: Crude extracts, atresia, atrophy, Psidium guajava Linnaeus and guav

Drugs of Abuse Can Entrain Circadian Rhythms

Circadian rhythms prepare organisms for predictable events during the Earth's 24-h day. These rhythms are entrained by a variety of stimuli. Light is the most ubiquitous and best known zeitgeber, but a number of others have been identified, including food, social cues, locomotor activity, and, most recently drugs of abuse. Given the diversity of zeitgebers, it is probably not surprising that genes capable of clock functions are located throughout almost all organs and tissues. Recent evidence suggests that drugs of abuse can directly entrain some circadian rhythms. We have report here that entrainment by drugs of abuse is independent of the suprachiasmatic nucleus and the light/dark cycle, is not dependent on direct locomotor stimulation, and is shared by a variety of classes of drugs of abuse. We suggest that drug-entrained rhythms reflect variations in underlying neurophysiological states. This could be the basis for known daily variations in drug metabolism, tolerance, and sensitivity to drug reward. These rhythms could also take the form of daily periods of increased motivation to seek and take drugs, and thus contribute to abuse, addiction and relapse

Maternal outcomes at 3 months after planned caesarean section versus planned vaginal birth for twin pregnancies in the Twin Birth Study: a randomised controlled trial

OBJECTIVE: To compare outcomes at 3 months post partum for women randomised to give birth by planned caesarean section (CS) or by planned vaginal birth (VB) in the Twin Birth Study (TBS). DESIGN: We invited women in the TBS to complete a 3-month follow-up questionnaire. SETTING: Two thousand and eight hundred and four women from 25 countries. POPULATION: Two thousand and five hundred and seventy women (92% response rate). METHODS: Women randomised between 13 December 2003 and 4 April 2011 in the TBS completed a questionnaire and outcomes were compared using an intention-to-treat approach. MAIN OUTCOME AND MEASURES: Breastfeeding, quality of life, depression, fatigue and urinary incontinence. RESULTS: We found no clinically important differences between groups in any outcome. In the planned CS versus planned VB groups, breastfeeding at any time after birth was reported by 84.4% versus 86.4% (P = 0.13); the mean physical and mental Short Form (36) Health Survey (SF-36) quality of life scores were 51.8 versus 51.6 (P = 0.65) and 46.7 versus 46.0 (P = 0.09), respectively; the mean Multidimensional Assessment of Fatigue score was 20.3 versus 20.8 (P = 0.14); the frequency of probable depression on the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale was 14.0% versus 14.8% (P = 0.57); the rate of problematic urinary incontinence was 5.5% versus 6.4% (P = 0.31); and the mean Incontinence Impact Questionnaire-7 score was 20.5 versus 20.4 (P = 0.99). Partner relationships, including painful intercourse, were similar between the groups. CONCLUSION: For women with twin pregnancies randomised to planned CS compared with planned VB, outcomes at 3 months post partum did not differ. The mode of birth was not associated with problematic urinary incontinence or urinary incontinence that affected the quality of life. Contrary to previous studies, breastfeeding at 3 months was not increased with planned VB. TWEETABLE ABSTRACT: Planned mode of birth for twins doesn't affect maternal depression, wellbeing, incontinence or breastfeeding

Oscillations of a solid sphere falling through a wormlike micellar fluid

We present an experimental study of the motion of a solid sphere falling through a wormlike micellar fluid. While smaller or lighter spheres quickly reach a terminal velocity, larger or heavier spheres are found to oscillate in the direction of their falling motion. The onset of this instability correlates with a critical value of the velocity gradient scale $\Gamma_{c}\sim 1$ s$^{-1}$. We relate this condition to the known complex rheology of wormlike micellar fluids, and suggest that the unsteady motion of the sphere is caused by the formation and breaking of flow-induced structures.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure

The SAURON project. II. Sample and early results

Early results are reported from the SAURON survey of the kinematics and stellar populations of a representative sample of nearby E, S0 and Sa galaxies. The survey is aimed at determining the intrinsic shape of the galaxies, their orbital structure, the mass-to-light ratio as a function of radius, the age and metallicity of the stellar populations, and the frequency of kinematically decoupled cores and nuclear black holes. The construction of the representative sample is described, and its properties are illustrated. A comparison with long-slit spectroscopic data establishes that the SAURON measurements are comparable to, or better than, the highest-quality determinations. Comparisons are presented for NGC 3384 and NGC 4365 where stellar velocities and velocity dispersions are determined to a precision of 6 km/s, and the h3 and h4 parameters of the line-of-sight velocity distribution to a precision of better than 0.02. Extraction of accurate gas emission-line intensities, velocities and line widths from the datacubes is illustrated for NGC 5813. Comparisons with published line-strengths for NGC 3384 and NGC 5813 reveal uncertainties of < 0.1 A on the measurements of the Hbeta, Mgb and Fe5270 indices. Integral-field mapping uniquely connects measurements of the kinematics and stellar populations to the galaxy morphology. The maps presented here illustrate the rich stellar kinematics, gaseous kinematics, and line-strength distributions of early-type galaxies. The results include the discovery of a thin, edge-on, disk in NGC 3623, confirm the axisymmetric shape of the central region of M32, illustrate the LINER nucleus and surrounding counter-rotating star-forming ring in NGC 7742, and suggest a uniform stellar population in the decoupled core galaxy NGC 5813.Comment: 20 pages, 17 figures. To be published in MNRAS. Version with full resolution images available at http://www.strw.leidenuniv.nl/~dynamics/Instruments/Sauron/pub_list.htm

Metformin and carotid intima-media thickness in never-smokers with type 1 diabetes: the REMOVAL trial

Aim: To determine whether metformin's effects on carotid artery intima‐media thickness (cIMT) in type 1 diabetes differ according to smoking status. Methods: Regression model effect estimates for the effect of metformin versus placebo (double‐blind) on carotid IMT were calculated as a subgroup analysis of the REMOVAL trial. Results: In 428 randomized participants (227 never‐smokers, 201 ever‐smokers), averaged mean carotid IMT progression (per year) was reduced by metformin versus placebo in never‐smokers (−0.012 mm, 95% CI −0.021 to −0.002; p = .0137) but not in ever‐smokers (0.003 mm, 95% CI −0.008 to 0.014; p = .5767); and similarly in non‐current smokers (−0.008 mm, 95% CI −0.015 to −0.00001; p = .0497) but not in current smokers (0.013 mm, 95% CI −0.007 to 0.032; p = .1887). Three‐way interaction terms (treatment*time*smoking status) were significant for never versus ever smoking (p = .0373, prespecified) and non‐current versus current smoking (p = .0496, exploratory). Averaged maximal carotid IMT progression (per year) was reduced by metformin versus placebo in never‐smokers (−0.020 mm, 95% CI −0.034 to −0.006; p = .0067) but not in ever‐smokers (−0.006 mm, 95% CI −0.020 to 0.008; p = .4067), although this analysis was not supported by a significant three‐way interaction term. Conclusions: This subgroup analysis of the REMOVAL trial provides additional support for a potentially wider role of adjunct metformin therapy in cardiovascular risk management in type 1 diabetes, particularly for individuals who have never smoked cigarettes

A European spectrum of pharmacogenomic biomarkers: Implications for clinical pharmacogenomics

Pharmacogenomics aims to correlate inter-individual differences of drug efficacy and/or toxicity with the underlying genetic composition, particularly in genes encoding for protein factors and enzymes involved in drug metabolism and transport. In several European populations, particularly in countries with lower income, information related to the prevalence of pharmacogenomic biomarkers is incomplete or lacking. Here, we have implemented the microattribution approach to assess the pharmacogenomic biomarkers allelic spectrum in 18 European populations, mostly from developing European countries, by analyzing 1,931 pharmacogenomics biomarkers in 231 genes. Our data show significant interpopulation pharmacogenomic biomarker allele frequency differences, particularly in 7 clinically actionable pharmacogenomic biomarkers in 7 European populations, affecting drug efficacy and/or toxicity of 51 medication treatment modalities. These data also reflect on the differences observed in the prevalence of high-risk genotypes in these populations, as far as common markers in the CYP2C9, CYP2C19, CYP3A5, VKORC1, SLCO1B1 and TPMT pharmacogenes are concerned. Also, our data demonstrate notable differences in predicted genotype-based warfarin dosing among these populations. Our findings can be exploited not only to develop guidelines for medical prioritization, but most importantly to facilitate integration of pharmacogenomics and to support pre-emptive pharmacogenomic testing. This may subsequently contribute towards significant cost-savings in the overall healthcare expenditure in the participating countries, where pharmacogenomics implementation proves to be cost-effective

Astronomical Distance Determination in the Space Age: Secondary Distance Indicators

The formal division of the distance indicators into primary and secondary leads to difficulties in description of methods which can actually be used in two ways: with, and without the support of the other methods for scaling. Thus instead of concentrating on the scaling requirement we concentrate on all methods of distance determination to extragalactic sources which are designated, at least formally, to use for individual sources. Among those, the Supernovae Ia is clearly the leader due to its enormous success in determination of the expansion rate of the Universe. However, new methods are rapidly developing, and there is also a progress in more traditional methods. We give a general overview of the methods but we mostly concentrate on the most recent developments in each field, and future expectations. © 2018, The Author(s)