Influence of Information and Communication Technology on Performance of Financial Audits in Government Ministries in Kenya

Financial Audits in the public sector have since independence been carried out manually in the Country. The use of this manual approach in the performance of auditing had raised queries as to the quality of audits, detection of fraud and timeliness of reports presented to parliament. Through the adoption of Integrated Financial Management Information Systems in Government Ministries, the financial function and operations have since been automated. With the shift of the Government financial operations from a manual approach to an automated system, a manual audit approach to these automated government operations would therefore not be effective, efficient and economical. Fraud perpetrated through the system would also be hard to discover using the manual approach. It was within this backdrop that the study sought to establish the effect of adoption of ICT on the performance of financial audits in Government Ministries on the basis of ICT training, ICT infrastructure, Organizational Setting, Legislative support and Auditing Standards. The general objective of the study was to determine the influence of ICT on the performance of financial audits in Government Ministries of Kenya. The specific objectives were how ICT infrastructure, IT audits training, legislature support, organizational structure and auditing standards affect the performance of financial audits in Government Ministries of Kenya. The research design used for the study was descriptive. The scope of the study was financial auditors at the 18 Ministries who were from the Office of the Auditor General with a total population of 434. To obtain data, stratified random sampling technique was used to obtain a sample size of 87 respondents. Validity refers to the degree to which results obtained from analysis of data actually represents the phenomenon under study. For testing validity the questionnaire was tested on 3 staff that were not included in the final study. Reliability is a measure of the degree to which research instruments gives consistent results after repeated trials. To confirm reliability, instruments were pretested on a small sample which was used in the final survey. Data was collected through questionnaire and analyzed using descriptive statistics then presented in the form of tables for easy understanding purposes. A regression model was used to establish the relationship between the dependent and independent variables. The study found out that adoption of ICT in the audit process improves the financial audit process by reducing the time and cost it takes to conduct the audit. Regular training on auditing computerized applications by the Government improves the knowledge of auditors to be able to effectively audit the financial applications. The study recommends for the implementation and utilization of ICT in the audit process to reduce operational inefficiency and to improve the audit process

PREVALENCE OF URINARY TRACT INFECTION AMONG PREGNANT WOMEN ATTENDING ANTENATAL CLINIC AT KASANGATI HEALTH CENTER IV IN WAKISO DISTRICT. A DESCRIPTIVE CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDY.

Background: Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are a common bacterial infection among pregnant women affecting up to 10% of pregnant women worldwide. Despite the increase and availability of UTIs in Uganda, the prevalence is still unknown. Therefore this study aimed at determining the prevalence of UTI, most affected age and risk factors associated with UTI among pregnant women attending the antenatal care clinic at kasangati health center IV in Wakiso district. Methodology: The study employed a descriptive cross-sectional study both quantitative methods. The results were obtained through laboratory diagnosis of midstream urine. Data collected from the study were analyzed using SPSS version 2.0 and presented on tables and graphs. Results: The most affected age group in terms of UTIs is the 23-27 years category, with 36.9% of pregnant women having had UTIs. The 28-32 years category follows closely behind, with 32.9% of pregnant women having UTIs. The other age groups have lower percentages of UTI occurrences. pregnant that were single had a higher percentage of UTI cases (87.5%), (81.5%) among housewives, (79.5%) resided in urban areas, (87.5%) among Muslim pregnant women, and a higher percentage of UTI cases (83.9%) occurred among those with higher incomes (>50,000/=). pregnant women with multiple partners, changing undergarments once a day, knowledge about UTI cases and UTIs from sex, using contaminated toilets, cleaning directions, and frequency of weekly sexual intercourse. Conclusion: The study recorded a higher prevalence (73%) of UTIs in pregnancy than in all the studies. Recommendation: The study recommended that the introduction of culture and sensitivity for every pregnant woman especially those with a history of UTI should be considered as well as made available at least at health center IV hospitals since it acts as referral point to several pregnant women

PREVALENCE OF URINARY TRACT INFECTION AMONG PREGNANT WOMEN ATTENDING ANTENATAL CLINIC AT KASANGATI HEALTH CENTER IV IN WAKISO DISTRICT. A DESCRIPTIVE CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDY.

Background: Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are a common bacterial infection among pregnant women affecting up to 10% of pregnant women worldwide. Despite the increase and availability of UTIs in Uganda, the prevalence is still unknown. Therefore this study aimed at determining the prevalence of UTI, most affected age and risk factors associated with UTI among pregnant women attending the antenatal care clinic at kasangati health center IV in Wakiso district. Methodology: The study employed a descriptive cross-sectional study both quantitative methods. The results were obtained through laboratory diagnosis of midstream urine. Data collected from the study were analyzed using SPSS version 2.0 and presented on tables and graphs. Results: The most affected age group in terms of UTIs is the 23-27 years category, with 36.9% of pregnant women having had UTIs. The 28-32 years category follows closely behind, with 32.9% of pregnant women having UTIs. The other age groups have lower percentages of UTI occurrences. pregnant that were single had a higher percentage of UTI cases (87.5%), (81.5%) among housewives, (79.5%) resided in urban areas, (87.5%) among Muslim pregnant women, and a higher percentage of UTI cases (83.9%) occurred among those with higher incomes (>50,000/=). pregnant women with multiple partners, changing undergarments once a day, knowledge about UTI cases and UTIs from sex, using contaminated toilets, cleaning directions, and frequency of weekly sexual intercourse. Conclusion: The study recorded a higher prevalence (73%) of UTIs in pregnancy than in all the studies. Recommendation: The study recommended that the introduction of culture and sensitivity for every pregnant woman especially those with a history of UTI should be considered as well as made available at least at health center IV hospitals since it acts as referral point to several pregnant women

Review and guide to a future naming system of African Bemisia tabaci species

Once a pest has been correctly identified, its genus and species name can provide a link to valuable indications of its ecology, biology and life history that are critical for developing control strategies. Importantly, this link should exist even when the pest was known under other names (synonyms), or was not considered a pest at all (National Research Council, 1968). Many examples have shown that incorrect identification or classification of a pest has led to fruitless searches for biocontrol agents in the native range, incorrect assignments as disease vectors, and costly, yet misdirected, suppression measures. As new approaches for delimiting species based on molecular information become more widely used, the process of correctly identifying a species has become even more complex. Fortunately, we have good systematic frameworks and nomenclatural systems that are able to cope with these challenges. Here we review challenges associated with classification and identification within the Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius) species complex. These pests and the viruses they transmit have emerged in the past few decades as among the most damaging to food and fibre crops globally (Varma & Malathi, 2003; Pimental et al., 2005; Seal et al., 2006), especially in sub‐Saharan Africa (SSA). The systematics of the B. tabaci species group has been a highly debated topic for years (Boykin, 2014). Putative species are indistinguishable morphologically, so other biological data have been collected to investigate the species in the complex. Based on genetic differences (Colvin et al., 2004; Sseruwagi et al., 2005; Boykin et al., 2007; Boykin et al., 2013; Hsieh et al., 2014) and mating incompatibility (Colvin et al., 2004; Liu et al., 2007; Xu et al., 2010), B. tabaci is now recognized as a species complex that consists of at least 34 putative species (Boykin et al., 2012). The rapid discovery of significant species diversity has led to many changes in the informal names used over the last 10 years (Boykin, 2014), creating confusion in the literature

Decision Models for the Procurement of Subsidised Air Services

Small communities or remote regions are usually ignored by airlines because they have insufficient passenger demand and the air services to and from these regions are unprofitable. Free market conditions would lead to the lack of air connectivity to and from remote regions, hence transportation authorities intervene by procuring air services to guarantee improved accessibility for these regions. The procurement of air services is done through subsidy schemes where the transportation authorities pay subsidies to airlines that provide these air services along the routes to and from remote regions. These routes are commonly referred to as subsidised routes.  The procurement of subsidised air services (subsidised routes) involves two major tasks—the selection of routes to subsidise and the selection of airlines to serve these routes. These are the focus of this thesis. The overall aim of this thesis is to design decision support models that can be used by transportation authorities to select the routes to subsidise and to select airlines to serve these routes.  First, we develop an optimisation model that selects the routes to be subsidised, by maximising the number of people that can reach a given destination under different accessibility criteria subject to a budget. The model is capable of handling multiple accessibility criteria. As input to this model, we develop a novel method for estimating the subsidies required for non-existing subsidised routes.  Second, we develop an auction framework to provide decision support to transportation authorities when designing auctions for the procurement of subsidised air services. The auction framework has three steps: auction definition by the transportation authority, bid preparation by the bidding airlines, and winner determination by the transportation authority. We develop two optimisation models as part of the auction framework, a winner-determination model for selecting the bids with the minimum subsidies, and a bid preparation model that replicates the airline’s behaviour when preparing bids for subsidised routes. The bid preparation model has an objective of minimising subsidies subject to a minimum profit threshold. We additionally propose models to estimate the appropriate demand and the route-operation cost for subsidised routes, which are needed as input to the bid preparation model.  We demonstrate the usefulness of the two decision support models using the Public Service Obligation (PSO) network of subsidised routes in Sweden. The results suggest that the optimisation model can be used to select a new network of subsidised routes with improved accessibility to given destinations (e.g., the capital and an international airport) at a lower subsidy cost than the current network of subsidised routes. Having a requirement on the maximum airfare but not the minimum number of flights provides a good trade-off between the current restrictive setup with requirements on both the minimum number of flights and the maximum airfare, and a setup of the tendering process with no restrictions.

Models for the Procurement of Subsidized Air Services : Conventional Aircraft and the Adoption of Electric Aircraft

In liberalized air transportation markets, governments often adopt subsidy schemes through which they ensure air services along routes that are deemed commercially non-viable but economically and socially essential. The objective of these subsidized air service routes is to ensure a minimum level of services to outlying communities or remote regions that are difficult to access—by other modes of transportation—from the capital, other main cities or a hub airport yet can not be served commercially due to thin demand. Through these subsidy schemes, transportation authorities offer compensation—usually in form of subsidies—to airlines in exchange for air services. Subsidized air services face two main criticisms: their misuse, for example selecting routes that may sufficiently be served by other modes of transportation; and the excessive subsidies spent by transportation authorities. Addressing these criticisms is key for the planning of socially and economically efficient subsidized air service networks. However, decision support models to address these criticisms are scant in both literature and current practice. Furthermore, past studies have naturally focused on models specific to the existing aircraft technology (i.e, conventional aircraft) with no attention towards electric aircraft yet, (1) their uptake appears faster today than predicted, and (2) they are expected to be more environmentally friendly with zero CO2 emissions during operation) and cheaper to operate than conventional aircraft. This thesis develops decision support models using the conventional aircraft as well as electric aircraft. Specifically, the thesis contributes with optimization models that can be used by transportation authorities to select the routes to subsidize, to set appropriate level of service requirements that should be met by the airlines (while either minimizing the subsidies or total social cost), and to strategically plan for the adoption of electric aircraft on subsidized routes. The usefulness of the models is demonstrated through applications to the subsidized air service network in Sweden, and this gives three main insights. First, transportation authorities can use an optimization model to improve accessibility of outlying regions to given destinations and at lower subsidy cost. Second, having a requirement on the maximum airfare but not the minimum number of flights provides an appropriate set of service requirements that should be met by the airlines. Third, leveraging the many currently under-utilized regional airports during the adoption of electric aircraft has accessibility and infrastructure-investment benefits; however, the isolated adoption of a homogeneous fleet of electric aircraft with limited seat capacity, slow speed and short range capabilities is not sufficient to serve remote regions. In the short run—at least until the the battery technology develops further—a hybrid network consisting of both these electric aircraft and the larger, faster and longer range conventional aircraft can be leveraged to provide a better services to the people.På liberaliserade marknader för flygtransport, flygtjänster från och till avlägsna samhällen eller regioner anses vanligtvis vara kommersiellt olämpliga och därför ignoreras av flygbolagen eftersom de har otillräcklig efterfrågan på passagerare för att stödja lönsam verksamhet. Dessa regioner är också svåra att komma åt (t.ex. från huvudstaden eller en navflygplats) med andra transportsätt, men de är vanligtvis ekonomiskt och socialt viktiga för sina länder. Som ett resultat antar regeringar, till exempel i Europa, USA, Asien, Australien, Malaysia och Peru, ofta subventionssystem för att garantera tillgängligheten för dessa regioner till och från resten av landet. Genom dessa subventionssystem erbjuder transportmyndigheter kompensation— vanligtvis i form av subventioner—till flygbolag i utbyte mot flygtjänster. Trots fördelarna med subventionerade flygtjänster för regional sammanhållning möter de två huvudsakliga kritiker: deras missbruk, till exempel att välja rutter som kan trafikeras tillräckligt av andra transportsätt; och de stadigt ökande totala subventionerna som spenderas av transportmyndigheter. Att bemöta denna kritik är nyckeln till planeringen av socialt och ekonomiskt effektiva subventionerade flygtrafiknät. Beslutsstödsmodeller för att bemöta denna kritik är dock knapphändiga i både litteraturen och nuvarande praxis. Dessutom har tidigare studier naturligtvis fokuserat på modeller som är specifika för den befintliga flygplansteknologin (dvs konventionella flygplan) utan uppmärksamhet på elektriska flygplan ännu (1) deras upptag verkar snabbare idag än förutspått, och (2) de förväntas vara mer miljövänliga med noll CO2-utsläpp under drift) och 30 till 70% billigare att använda än konventionella flygplan. Detta examensarbete utvecklar beslutsstödsmodeller som använder både konventionella flygplan och elektriska flygplan. Specifikt bidrar avhandlingen med optimeringsmodeller som kan användas av transportmyndigheter för att välja de rutter som ska subventioneras, för att fastställa lämpliga servicekrav som bör uppfyllas av flygbolagen (samtidigt som de antingen minimerar subventionerna eller den totala sociala kostnaden), och för att strategiskt plan för adoption av elektriska flygplan på subventionerade rutter. Användbarheten av modellerna demonstreras genom ansökningar till det subventionerade flygtjänstnätverket i Sverige, och det ger tre huvudsakliga insikter. För det första, när det gäller valet av rutter att subventionera, kan transportmyndigheter använda en optimeringsmodell för att förbättra tillgängligheten för avlägsna regioner till givna destinationer (t.ex. huvudstaden och en internationell flygplats) och till lägre subventionskostnader. För det andra, att ha ett krav på högsta flygpris men inte minsta antal flygningar ger en lämplig uppsättning servicekrav som flygbolagen bör uppfylla. För det tredje, att utnyttja de många för närvarande underutnyttjade regionala flygplatserna under införandet av elektriska flygplan har fördelar för tillgänglighet och infrastrukturinvesteringar; Det isolerade antagandet av en homogen flotta av elektriska flygplan med begränsad säteskapacitet, låg hastighet och korta räckvidd är dock inte tillräckligt för att betjäna avlägsna regioner. På kort sikt—åtminstone tills batteritekniken utvecklas ytterligare—kan ett hybridnätverk bestående av både dessa elektriska flygplan och de större, snabbare och längre räckvidden konventionella flygplanen utnyttjas för att ge bättre service till folket.ISBN for the electronic version has been added 2022-08-16.</p

Community Empowerment through Entrepreneurial Training; Ensuring Sustainable Community Economic Development in Uganda: Dr. Amaal Kinene Nsereko, Dr. Wasajja James Kiwanuka

This study has been conducted among market vendors at Gaba, a suburb located on the shores of Lake Victoria, ganda. The study was intended to equip the market vendors with managerial and entrepreneurial skills to enable them to improve their productivity. The study was phenomenological in nature and the voice of the participants was central. A mixed method approach was utilized whereby tests, hands-on projects and individual interviews were carried out with the identified research group. The findings of the study indicated that there was strong necessity to train or equip people in Small and Medium Businesses Enterprises (SMEs) with entrepreneurship skills. Recommendations made in this study include: Implore both Government and Non- Governmental Organizations and individuals to get involved and support this program; that universities and higher institutions of learning put policies and practices in place in order to support the older cohort of students

Whole mitochondrial genomes reveal the relatedness of the browsing ant incursions in Australia

Abstract Global trade and human movements outspread animal species, for example ants, from their native habitats to new areas. This causes biosecurity concerns because an exotic ant might have adverse impacts on agriculture, the environment, or health; thus, incurring economic losses. The browsing ant, Lepisiota frauenfeldi, was first detected in 2013 at the Perth Airport. Since then, more discrete browsing ant infestations have been found in Perth and at the Ports of Darwin and Brisbane. This exotic ant has been deemed a significant pest in Australia and eradication efforts are underway. However, tackling this invasion requires an understanding of how these infestations are related. Are they same or separate or a combination of both? Here, we carried out a phylogenetic analysis using high-throughput sequencing data to determine their relatedness. Our results showed that each interstate incursion was separate. Furthermore, the Western Australian incursions might have two introductions. These findings are critical in devising effective biosecurity measures. However, we discovered that this information could only be revealed by analysing the whole mitochondrial genome; not by a single mitochondrial gene as typically done for species identification. Here, we sequenced 51 whole mitogenomes including three of its congener L. incisa for the first time, for tracing future infestations