The theory of planned behaviour in exploring dietary diversity practices among mothers in informal settlements in Kenya

One of the leading causes of malnutrition, which contributes to morbidity and mortality in children, is lack of dietary diversity. Despite remarkable  improvement in exclusive breastfeeding in Kenya, there are still poor dietary diversity practices among children aged 6-24 months. Limited studies  have applied the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) to examine the factors that influence dietary diversity practices in informal settlements in  Kenya. The objective of this qualitative study was to explore behavioral, normative, control beliefs, intention, and dietary diversity practices, based  on the TPB. The study sites were Kibera in Nairobi, Manyatta A in Kisumu, and Kaptembwo in Nakuru. Participants were 64 mothers of children aged  6-24 months selected using purposive sampling. Nine focus groups, each comprising of 5-10 mothers were conducted and the data analyzed  using thematic analysis. Using a focus group guide, based on the TPB, mothers described salient beliefs regarding their attitude, subjective norms  and perceived control of dietary diversity. Analysis of the data showed that some mothers had intended to introduce solid foods at six months.  However, barriers such as mother not feeding well, baby’s hunger, perceived insufficient breast milk production, and return to work led to earlier  introduction of foods. Most mothers indicated their intention to give a variety of foods to their children but were hindered by barriers such as  poverty/inadequate money, non-availability of food at home, and inadequate knowledge about complementary feeding. Friends, health  professionals, fathers, neighbours and friends were cited as most salient referents that influenced the dietary diversity practices. The most  frequently provided starchy foods were chappatis, mandazis, potatoes, rice, weetabix, porridge, and ugali. In conclusion, the results indicate that  mothers had positive attitude towards dietary diversity. The ‘significant others’ who mostly influenced dietary diversity practices were health  professionals, fathers, and friends. Future interventions need to target mothers' perceived childfeeding responsibilities, influence subjective norms,  and increase parents' perceived control over child feeding.&nbsp

Availability of ICT Infrastructure and use of Student Management Information System in Teacher Education Programme by Distance Learning in selected Universities in Kenya

Student management information system (SMIS) is used in educational institutions to provide easy access to students’ bio data which leads to increased efficiency, effectiveness and quality. About 80 per cent of Universities in Kenya that provide teacher education programme by distance learning. The objective of the study was to establish the extent to which availability of ICT infrastructure influences the use of SMIS in teacher education programme by distance learning in selected universities in Kenya. The study was based on Adaptive Structuration Theory, and cross-sectional survey design was used to guide the processes. A mixed approach was used for data collection involving structured questionnaires, key informant interviews and focus group discussions and data was collected from a random sample of 445 participants drawn from a target population of 9,936. Quantitative data was analyzed by descriptive and inferential. Statistical techniques were used to test the relationships between independent and dependent variables. The overall Chi-square test results revealed that there was a significant relationship between availability of ICT infrastructure and use of Student Management Information systems (Chi-Square value = 62.609; P-value=0.000<0.05) leading to rejection of the null hypothesis that here is no significant relationship between availability of ICT Infrastructure and use of Student Management Information System and acceptance of the alternative hypothesis. It was therefore concluded that availability of ICT infrastructure has an influence on the use of student management information system in teacher education programmes by distance learning. The finding will be useful to development planners and education policy makers by providing empirical knowledge for interventions that promote ICT infrastructure in universities. The study recommended that all universities in Kenya should adopt SMIS to support their administrative and academic functions and that the government should fast track rural electrification and laying of high speed internet cables to support the use of SMIS

Moderating Influence of Personal Attributes on the Relationship between Institutional Factors and Use of Student Management Information System in Teacher Education Programme by Distance Learning in Selected Universities in Kenya

Student management information systems (SMIS) are used in educational institutions to enhance efficiency, effectiveness, and quality by providing easy access to students' biodata, administrative and academic information. About 80 per cent of Universities in Kenya offering teacher education programmes by distance learning still perform manual administrative tasks, with student records stored in filing cabinets, causing dust accumulation and difficulty in retrieval. Numerous studies have been conducted, but there is insufficient scientific research on the issues and challenges faced by distance learning students using SMIS. This study investigated the influence of personal attributes of learners on the use of student management information system in teacher education programme by distance learning. The indicators of personal attributes were identified as age, gender and level of education. Universities in Kenya are among the leading users of information systems that value high quality SMIS to support teacher education programme. The objective of this study was to determine the moderating influence of personal attributes on the use of SMIS in teacher education programme by distance learning in selected universities in Kenya. The study was based on Adaptive Structuration Theory, and cross-sectional survey design was used to guide the processes. Data was collected from 445 participants from selected Universities in Kenya that use SMIS in the management of teacher education programs by distance learning. A mixed approach for data collection was used that comprised structured questionnaires, interview guides and personal observation. For data analysis, Chi-square technique, Pearson correlation and regression analyses were used to test the relationships between the moderating and dependent variables. Research hypothesis was tested at α=0.05 level of significance and the null hypothesis (H0) which stated that “There is no significant moderating influence of personal attributes on use of SMIS in teacher education programme by distance learning in selected Universities in Kenya” was rejected since p=0.000<0.05. The study concluded that personal attributes of learners have a significant moderating influence on the use of SMIS in teacher education programme by distance learning in selected Universities in Kenya. The finding will be useful to development planners and education policy makers by providing evidence-based information for interventions that promote ICT infrastructure in universities. The study recommended that all universities in Kenya should adopt SMIS to support their administrative and academic functions and that learners should be given continual training on the use of SMIS. The government should also fast track rural electrification and laying of high speed internet cables to support the use of SMI

The Efficacy of a Tropical Constructed Wetland for Treating Wastewater during the Wet Season: The Kenyan Experience

Constructed Wetlands are among the most promising treatment options for domestic and industrial wastewater streams in places where land is available. They need more land than conventional wastewater treatment plants but occupy less space when compared to waste stabilization ponds. They are generally affordable in operational and maintenance costs while offering effective and reliable service. Constructed Wetlands are manmade wastewater treatment systems that consist of shallow ponds and channels that have been planted with macrophytes. They rely on natural, microbial, biological, physical and chemical processes to treat wastewater. They normally comprise of impervious clay liners clay liners and engineered structures to control the flow direction, wastewater retention times and water levels. Research wok was conducted on a tropical constructed wetland to establish its capability to treat wastewater during the wet season. A comparison of its efficacy with that of conventional wastewater treatment plants was made on the basis of measured water quality parameters. Temperature, pH, dissolved oxygen, and conductivity were measured in situ. Total suspended solids (TSS), total dissolved solids (TDS), biochemical oxygen demand (BOD5), chemical oxygen demand (COD) phosphorus, ammonia, and nitrites were analyzed in the laboratory. Faecal coliforms were enumerated and Escherichia coli counts were determined. The TSS values were reduced from a mean of 116 mg/l at the influent point to 24 mg/l at the effluent point, depicting a reduction of 79.31%. Influent TDS averaged 847 mg/l, while the effluent averaged 783mg/l. Wet season BOD5 levels were reduced from an average of 472 mg/l at the inlet point to 24 mg/l at the outlet, depicting a reduction efficiency of 94.9%. COD levels were reduced from a mean of 2174.2 mg/l to 71mg/l, representing a removal efficiency of 96.7%. Phosphorus was reduced from a mean of 14 mg/l to 11 mg/l representing a percentage removal of 21.4%. Levels of ammonia reduced from an influent mean of 61 mg/l to an effluent mean of 48 mg/l representing a percentage reduction of 21.3%. There were a 99.99% reduction for both the faecal coliforms and E.coli counts. Conductivity of wastewater increased from 1.08mS to 1.98mS, while the p H increased from 6.23 at the inlet point to 7.99 at the outlet of the system. Temperature and dissolved oxygen measurements showed a diurnal variation. The wet season wastewater heavy metal concentrations were in the following ranges: Pb (7.9-11.9ppm), Cd (1.0-3.8ppm), Cr (1.4-8.8ppm), Zn (0.1-10.4ppm), Ni (2.2-8.3ppm) with Cu not being detected in the wastewater samples. Overall, tropical constructed wetlands are effective in treating wastewater streams and they perform a lot better than the popularly used waste stabilization ponds. This paper recommends their widespread use within the tropics as the prevalence of warm temperatures all the year round enhances their performance. Keywords: Constructed Wetlands, Microbial, Physical, Chemical, Heavy metals, Tropic

Predictors of linkage to care following community-based HIV counseling and testing in rural Kenya

Despite innovations in HIV counseling and testing (HCT), important gaps remain in understanding linkage to care. We followed a cohort diagnosed with HIV through a community-based HCT campaign that trained persons living with HIV/AIDS (PLHA) as navigators. Individual, interpersonal, and institutional predictors of linkage were assessed using survival analysis of self-reported time to enrollment. Of 483 persons consenting to follow-up, 305 (63.2%) enrolled in HIV care within 3 months. Proportions linking to care were similar across sexes, barring a sub-sample of men aged 18–25 years who were highly unlikely to enroll. Men were more likely to enroll if they had disclosed to their spouse, and women if they had disclosed to family. Women who anticipated violence or relationship breakup were less likely to link to care. Enrolment rates were significantly higher among participants receiving a PLHA visit, suggesting that a navigator approach may improve linkage from community-based HCT campaigns.Vestergaard Frandse

PDBe: towards reusable data delivery infrastructure at protein data bank in Europe

© 2017 The Authors. Published by OUP. This is an open access article available under a Creative Commons licence. The published version can be accessed at the following link on the publisher’s website: https://doi.org/10.1093/nar/gkx1070The Protein Data Bank in Europe (PDBe, pdbe.org) is actively engaged in the deposition, annotation, remediation, enrichment and dissemination of macromolecular structure data. This paper describes new developments and improvements at PDBe addressing three challenging areas: data enrichment, data dissemination and functional reusability. New features of the PDBe Web site are discussed, including a context dependent menu providing links to raw experimental data and improved presentation of structures solved by hybrid methods. The paper also summarizes the features of the LiteMol suite, which is a set of services enabling fast and interactive 3D visualization of structures, with associated experimental maps, annotations and quality assessment information. We introduce a library of Web components which can be easily reused to port data and functionality available at PDBe to other services. We also introduce updates to the SIFTS resource which maps PDB data to other bioinformatics resources, and the PDBe REST API.Wellcome Trust [104948]; UK Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council [BB/M011674/1, BB/N019172/1, BB/M020347/1]; European Union [284209]; European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL). Funding for open access charge: EMBL.Published versio

HIV-1 Drug Resistance Emergence among Breastfeeding Infants Born to HIV-Infected Mothers during a Single-Arm Trial of Triple-Antiretroviral Prophylaxis for Prevention of Mother-To-Child Transmission: A Secondary Analysis

Analysis of a substudy of the Kisumu breastfeeding trial by Clement Zeh and colleagues reveals the emergence of HIV drug resistance in HIV-positive infants born to HIV-infected mothers treated with antiretroviral drugs