Effects of Plural Suffixation on Tone Assignment in the Keiyo Language Spoken by the Keiyo Community in Kenya

This paper discusses the effects of the plural suffixes on the assignment of tone in Keiyo language. The aim of the study was to analyze the phonological and prosodic processes that Keiyo nouns (both definite and indefinite) undergo when inflected for number. Since the research was basically descriptive, a design that allowed for the careful description of the phonological characteristics was used. The research was carried out in Tambach Division of Keiyo District in Rift Valley Province. Four adult native speakers who have spent their entire lives in Tambach Division were selected as respondents as they had a rich inventory of the Keiyo nominal vocabulary. The author engaged them with a list of different kinds of generated nouns in their root forms, the singular forms and their corresponding plurals for them to confirm the researcher’s version of the selection of suffixes. Data analysis was done in various stages. From the findings, Keiyo has about three (3) different underlying tones that include High (H), Low (L) and Mid (M). As such, tone is assigned on a noun depending on the meaning that is desired from the individual word. It was noted that plural suffixes in Keiyo are of two forms the indefinite default /in/ and the definite default /ik/ respectively. These two suffixes are however realized differently in different contexts because of constraining phonological factors. Noun roots in Keiyo in their standard forms predominantly carry mid-tone or occasionally a low tone. This feature is however exclusive to the first syllable of the noun roots. The rest of the syllables that follow will also be dictated by the harmony factor. Therefore, when the suffix applies, the initial mid-tone in the root word changes to a low (L) tone in the suffixed word and then to a high (H) tone on the suffix boundary which in most cases is the last syllable in the realized plural suffixed word. Upon suffixation therefore, the features found in the singular nouns and those brought in by the suffixes merge and create a new pattern of tone in the plural form. Keywords: Effects, Plural Suffixation, Tone Assignment, Keiyo Language, Keiyo Community, Keny

Abdominal Compartment Syndrome in Surgical Patients

Background: The deleterious effects of intraabdominal hypertension and abdominal compartment syndrome, affect almost every system. Patients at risk are the critically ill, in whom it leads to alteredorgan perfusion and end organ dysfunction/failure. The five cases reported highlight the diagnostic and management challenges.Case Presentation: Five patients with variable degrees of multiple organ dysfunction/failure as evidenced by derangements in laboratory and clinical parameters are presented. Non-surgical interventions including insertion or repositioning of nasogastric tube, insertion of flatus tube, careful titration of IV fluid requirements and appropriate adjustments of ventilator setting were instituted. All five did not respond to initial management and decompressive laparotomy or re-opening of the abdomen was planned.Conclusion: Abdominal compartment syndrome can be prevented by regular measurement of intraabdominal pressure in patients at risk. Non-surgical means should precede decompressive laparotomy but timely surgical intervention is crucial.Key words: case series, Intra-abdominal pressure, Intra-abdominal hypertension, Abdominal compartment syndrome

Preserving Privacy: How Governments and Digital Services Can Harness Zero-Knowledge Proofs for Secure Identification

Amidst rapid technological advancement and digital transformation, ensuring privacy and data security is paramount. Governments and digital service providers face the challenge of establishing secure identification systems that protect individuals' personal information while enabling reliable authentication and seamless user experiences. Traditional identification methods often require individuals to disclose sensitive personal information, leading to privacy risks and potential data breaches. Zero-knowledge proofs (ZKPs) have emerged as a promising solution to address these concerns. By leveraging ZKPs, individuals can authenticate their identities or assert specific attributes without revealing sensitive data. This approach holds great potential for preserving privacy while enabling efficient and trustworthy verification processes. This paper explored ZKPs and how governments and digital service providers can utilize this technology to achieve secure identification while upholding privacy. A key focus was prototyping a secure identification protocol using ZKPs. Through practical implementation, this research aimed to demonstrate the reliability and effectiveness of ZKPs in real-world scenarios. Keywords: zero-knowledge proofs, privacy, digital identity, governments, digital services. DOI: 10.7176/ISDE/13-2-06 Publication date:September 30th 202

Moderating Effect of Financial Strength on the Relationship Between Board Characteristics and Environmental Sustainability Disclosures

The study examines the moderating effect of financial strength on the relationship between board characteristics (board independence and qualification) and ecological sustainability disclosures on firms listed at the Nairobi Securities Exchange. The study period was (5) years (from 2013 to 2017). It employed a correlational survey research design covering the period of five (5) years (2013 - 2017). The target population was sixty-five (65) firms listed at the NSE, with a sample size of 56 firms. Data was utilised from firms’ annual reports, stand-alone reports, and website. Pearson’s correlation, Ordinary Least Square regression model and Environmental Disclosure Index were used in analysis. The results showed that financial strength strengthen the relationship between environmental sustainability disclosure and board independence (β = .23, ρ<.01). A negative and significant moderating effect of financial strength on the relationship between board meetings and environmental sustainability disclosure (β = -.16, ρ<.05) was found. For the board qualification, positive and insignificant effect of financial strength was observed (β = .13, ρ>.05). The study concluded that financial strength has significant moderating effect on the relationship between board characteristics and environmental sustainability disclosure. It recommends enactment of policies addressing corporate environmental reporting by firms as a result of different asset base. Future studies need to focus on; specific dimensions such as directors’ experience, age, and nationality, use of more measures of firms financial strength such as risk analysis, cross listing and profitability. Keywords: Corporate characteristics, environmental sustainability disclosures, financial strength, listed firms, trinity theory. DOI: 10.7176/RJFA/10-18-13 Publication date:September 30th 201

The evolving SARS-CoV-2 epidemic in Africa: Insights from rapidly expanding genomic surveillance

INTRODUCTION Investment in Africa over the past year with regard to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) sequencing has led to a massive increase in the number of sequences, which, to date, exceeds 100,000 sequences generated to track the pandemic on the continent. These sequences have profoundly affected how public health officials in Africa have navigated the COVID-19 pandemic. RATIONALE We demonstrate how the first 100,000 SARS-CoV-2 sequences from Africa have helped monitor the epidemic on the continent, how genomic surveillance expanded over the course of the pandemic, and how we adapted our sequencing methods to deal with an evolving virus. Finally, we also examine how viral lineages have spread across the continent in a phylogeographic framework to gain insights into the underlying temporal and spatial transmission dynamics for several variants of concern (VOCs). RESULTS Our results indicate that the number of countries in Africa that can sequence the virus within their own borders is growing and that this is coupled with a shorter turnaround time from the time of sampling to sequence submission. Ongoing evolution necessitated the continual updating of primer sets, and, as a result, eight primer sets were designed in tandem with viral evolution and used to ensure effective sequencing of the virus. The pandemic unfolded through multiple waves of infection that were each driven by distinct genetic lineages, with B.1-like ancestral strains associated with the first pandemic wave of infections in 2020. Successive waves on the continent were fueled by different VOCs, with Alpha and Beta cocirculating in distinct spatial patterns during the second wave and Delta and Omicron affecting the whole continent during the third and fourth waves, respectively. Phylogeographic reconstruction points toward distinct differences in viral importation and exportation patterns associated with the Alpha, Beta, Delta, and Omicron variants and subvariants, when considering both Africa versus the rest of the world and viral dissemination within the continent. Our epidemiological and phylogenetic inferences therefore underscore the heterogeneous nature of the pandemic on the continent and highlight key insights and challenges, for instance, recognizing the limitations of low testing proportions. We also highlight the early warning capacity that genomic surveillance in Africa has had for the rest of the world with the detection of new lineages and variants, the most recent being the characterization of various Omicron subvariants. CONCLUSION Sustained investment for diagnostics and genomic surveillance in Africa is needed as the virus continues to evolve. This is important not only to help combat SARS-CoV-2 on the continent but also because it can be used as a platform to help address the many emerging and reemerging infectious disease threats in Africa. In particular, capacity building for local sequencing within countries or within the continent should be prioritized because this is generally associated with shorter turnaround times, providing the most benefit to local public health authorities tasked with pandemic response and mitigation and allowing for the fastest reaction to localized outbreaks. These investments are crucial for pandemic preparedness and response and will serve the health of the continent well into the 21st century

A combinational users selection scheme to enhance efficient resources allocation in a Femtocell

A paper Presentation during the EAMARC III Conference held at USIU-Africa from 15th November to 17th November 2016PROBLEM BACKGROUND Ever growing demand for mobile services More users need to get connected Need for higher bandwidth and faster connectivity Need to improve the quality of service. PROBLEM STATEMENT Need to improve resource allocation Need to accommodate as many users as possible Factors that pose challenges to resource availability include: SINR (Signal to Interference plus noise ratio) Mobility Power Levels Optimal data rates Development of a combinational algorithm to dynamically determine the best group of users to allocate resource requests in comparison to available resources in a given femtocell SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES Determination of the effectiveness of combinations as a users’ arrangement technique Validation of combinational users’ selection scheme as an improvement on resource allocation technique over the existing methods

Poverty is the problem – not parents: so tell me, child protection worker, how can you help?

Families who attract the attention of child protection services most often have ongoing lived experiences of poverty, gender-based domestic and family violence, problematic substance use and, sometimes, formally diagnosed mental health conditions. Without broader contextual knowledge and understanding, particularly regarding ongoing poverty, decision-making by child protection workers often leads to the removal of children, while the family's material poverty and experiences of violence remain unaddressed. Case studies are a common tool to succinctly capture complex contexts. In this article, we make explicit, through case examples and analysis, how poverty is almost always the backdrop to the presence of worrying risk factors before and during child protection intervention. Further, we expose the existential poverty that parents live with after they lose their children into care and which invariably exacerbates material poverty. In the final section, we consider the multi-faceted organisational poverty that blights the work environment of child protection workers, and we suggest strategies for improved practice with families living in poverty

Influence of headteachers’ monitoring allocations of teaching and learning materials on learners’ performance in activity areas in public pre-primary schools in Narok County, Kenya

The role of headteachers in the management of teaching and learning materials although widely studied has not been explored in regard to its influence on learners’ performance in public pre-primary Schools. The purpose of this study is to determine the influence of monitoring allocation of teaching and learning materials by Headteachers on learners performance in activity areas. Convergent Mixed Method design was used as it enabled the researcher to handle both qualitative and quantitative data that was collected. The target population comprised of 735 pre-primary schools, 735 Headteachers, 1470 preschool teachers, 30 ECD Coordinators, and 6 Quality Assurance Standards Officers. The sample size included 85 pre-primary schools, 85 head teachers, 85 pre-primary teachers from public pre-primary schools, 6 Quality Assurance and Standards Officers and 9 ECD Coordinators. Purposive sampling was used in the selection of headteachers, while the sample for teachers, ECD Coordinators, and Quality Assurance Standards Officers was selected using simple random sampling technique. The researcher used questionnaires, Interview schedule, Center Performance Assessment Tool, and Center Observation Checklist as the main tools for collecting data. The researcher used qualitative and quantitative approaches in analyzing data. Regression Analysis was used to test the hypotheses. The results show that monitoring allocation of teaching and learning materials by Headteachers did not have a statistically significant influence on learners’ performance in activity areas. Keywords: Monitoring Allocations of Teaching and Learning Materials, Learners’ Performance, Activity Areas, Pre-school