UTILIZATION OF VISUAL AND REALIA INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS IN ENHANCING ACQUISITION OF PRE-READING SKILLS AMONG PRESCHOOL LEARNERS IN NAROK COUNTY, KENYA

Early childhood education, also referred to as preschool education is essential to children’s social, physical, emotional, and cognitive growth. Learning can be made more effective when the teachers have the right instructional materials. The study was guided by the following research questions: how were visual instructional materials utilized in teaching pre-reading skills among preschool children? and how were realia instructional materials utilized in the teaching of pre-reading skills among preschool learners? The study adopted a descriptive survey design and data was collected using questionnaires, interviews, and observation schedules. The findings of the study revealed that visual instructional materials for teaching pre-reading skills were available but not adequate in most of the schools, hence affecting the effective teaching of pre-reading skills among the learners. The study further established that most preschools lacked adequate realia materials for teaching pre-reading skills. It was concluded that Preschool teachers should attend relevant workshops, seminars, vocational and teacher professional development courses, to acquire pedagogical skills, besides effective utilization of Visual and Realia instructional materials in teaching pre-reading skills to preschool learners. Emphasis should be on pedagogical content knowledge.  Article visualizations

Metagenomic analysis of viruses associated with maize lethal necrosis in Kenya

Background: Maize lethal necrosis is caused by a synergistic co-infection of Maize chlorotic mottle virus (MCMV) and a specific member of the Potyviridae, such as Sugarcane mosaic virus (SCMV), Wheat streak mosaic virus (WSMV) or Johnson grass mosaic virus (JGMV). Typical maize lethal necrosis symptoms include severe yellowing and leaf drying from the edges. In Kenya, we detected plants showing typical and atypical symptoms. Both groups of plants often tested negative for SCMV by ELISA. Methods: We used next-generation sequencing to identify viruses associated to maize lethal necrosis in Kenya through a metagenomics analysis. Symptomatic and asymptomatic leaf samples were collected from maize and sorghum representing sixteen counties. Results: Complete and partial genomes were assembled for MCMV, SCMV, Maize streak virus (MSV) and Maize yellow dwarf virus-RMV (MYDV-RMV). These four viruses (MCMV, SCMV, MSV and MYDV-RMV) were found together in 30 of 68 samples. A geographic analysis showed that these viruses are widely distributed in Kenya. Phylogenetic analyses of nucleotide sequences showed that MCMV, MYDV-RMV and MSV are similar to isolates from East Africa and other parts of the world. Single nucleotide polymorphism, nucleotide and polyprotein sequence alignments identified three genetically distinct groups of SCMV in Kenya. Variation mapped to sequences at the border of NIb and the coat protein. Partial genome sequences were obtained for other four potyviruses and one polerovirus. Conclusion: Our results uncover the complexity of the maize lethal necrosis epidemic in Kenya. MCMV, SCMV, MSV and MYDV-RMV are widely distributed and infect both maize and sorghum. SCMV population in Kenya is diverse and consists of numerous strains that are genetically different to isolates from other parts of the world. Several potyviruses, and possibly poleroviruses, are also involved

Power and rights in the community: paralegals as leaders in women's legal empowerment in Tanzania

What can an analysis of power in local communities contribute to debates on women’s legal empowerment and the role of paralegals in Africa? Drawing upon theories of power and rights, and research on legal empowerment in African plural legal systems, this article explores the challenges for paralegals in facilitating women’s access to justice in Tanzania, which gave statutory recognition to paralegals in the Legal Aid Act 2017. Land conflicts represent the single-biggest source of local legal disputes in Tanzania and are often embedded in gendered land tenure relations. This article argues that paralegals can be effective actors in women’s legal empowerment where they are able to work as leaders, negotiating power relations and resisting the forms of violence that women encounter as obstacles to justice. Paralegals’ authority will be realised when their role is situated within community leadership structures, confirming their authority while preserving their independence

Sediment source fingerprinting: benchmarking recent outputs, remaining challenges and emerging themes

Abstract: Purpose: This review of sediment source fingerprinting assesses the current state-of-the-art, remaining challenges and emerging themes. It combines inputs from international scientists either with track records in the approach or with expertise relevant to progressing the science. Methods: Web of Science and Google Scholar were used to review published papers spanning the period 2013–2019, inclusive, to confirm publication trends in quantities of papers by study area country and the types of tracers used. The most recent (2018–2019, inclusive) papers were also benchmarked using a methodological decision-tree published in 2017. Scope: Areas requiring further research and international consensus on methodological detail are reviewed, and these comprise spatial variability in tracers and corresponding sampling implications for end-members, temporal variability in tracers and sampling implications for end-members and target sediment, tracer conservation and knowledge-based pre-selection, the physico-chemical basis for source discrimination and dissemination of fingerprinting results to stakeholders. Emerging themes are also discussed: novel tracers, concentration-dependence for biomarkers, combining sediment fingerprinting and age-dating, applications to sediment-bound pollutants, incorporation of supportive spatial information to augment discrimination and modelling, aeolian sediment source fingerprinting, integration with process-based models and development of open-access software tools for data processing. Conclusions: The popularity of sediment source fingerprinting continues on an upward trend globally, but with this growth comes issues surrounding lack of standardisation and procedural diversity. Nonetheless, the last 2 years have also evidenced growing uptake of critical requirements for robust applications and this review is intended to signpost investigators, both old and new, towards these benchmarks and remaining research challenges for, and emerging options for different applications of, the fingerprinting approach

Seroprevalence of Hepatitis B among HIV Infected Persons Receiving Care in a HIV Clinic in Kisumu Kenya

Background: Hepatitis B infection among HIV infected persons is of clinical importance because it’s a leading cause of morbidity and mortality. Hepatitis B leads to liver cirrhosis and liver cancer. In Kenya Hepatitis B testing is not presently part of routine care for HIV infected patients despite that HIV increases the progression of HBV related liver disease due to immunosuppression. Objective: To determine the seroprevalence of Hepatitis B virus infection and Alanine aminotransferase; ALT levels among HIV infected persons in a HIV care clinic. Methodology: Cross-sectional descriptive study conducted at Family Aids Care and Education Services (FACES) Kisumu, Kenya. A sample size of 136 HIV infected persons above the age of 18 years were recruited. A questionnaire collecting information on the socio demographic characteristic and exposure factors to Hepatitis B infection was administered, 4mls of blood was collected for the detection of HBsAg (Hepatitis B surface Antigens) by Enzyme Immunoassay with the Murex HBsAg kit. The ALT test was done using COBAS INTEGRAL® 400 plus, Roche. Statistical analysis was done using SPSS v.16. Results: The seroprevalence of Hepatitis B infection among HIV infected persons was 13%. Patients with elevated liver enzyme ALT among HIV/HBV co infected persons was 11.76%. A possible association between elevated ALT and Hepatitis B was found (Fishers exact test p=0.044). Exposure factors such as lack of vaccination and having more than one sexual partner were considered to be significantly associated with the Infection ( P<0.005) Conclusion: There is need for increased screening and awareness of HBV infection for individuals who are HIV positive as the prevalence of the Hepatitis B infection is comparatively high as compared to the prevalence of HBsAg in the general population. The government through the ministry of medical services should look into the policy of making vaccination against Hepatitis B accessible

“A child, a tree”: Challenges in building collaborative relations in a community research project in a Kenyan context

This paper highlights the potential for basing participatory action research on priorities identified by communities. The case builds on a research project by the Social Science Medicine Africa Network (Soma-net) focusing on AIDS prevention among school youth in Kajiado in Kenya during 2003–2006. It became clear from that study just how complex it is to promote open communication on issues of sexuality considered critical for sexual health promotion. Towards the end of that study a spin-off in the form of a concept “a child, a tree” or tree planting evolved and the research thereafter continued as a partnership between the school community and the researchers. The focus then was on understanding how health promotion could be integrated into other aspects of community life. The concept and tree planting when implemented created a sense of ownership among the pupils largely because they were placed at the centre of the development activities. The story illuminates the nature of change developing in the course of the project, but also the challenges and complexity of creating and maintaining collaborative relations in the face of cultural and gender power dynamics and interventions imposed from outside the community

Les Houches Physics at TeV Colliders 2005, Standard Model and Higgs working group: Summary report

This Report summarises the activities of the "SM and Higgs" working group for the Workshop "Physics at TeV Colliders", Les Houches, France, 2-20 May, 2005. On the one hand, we performed a variety of experimental and theoretical studies on standard candles (such as W, Z, and ttbar production), treating them either as proper signals of known physics, or as backgrounds to unknown physics; we also addressed issues relevant to those non-perturbative or semi-perturbative ingredients, such as Parton Density Functions and Underlying Events, whose understanding will be crucial for a proper simulation of the actual events taking place in the detectors. On the other hand, several channels for the production of the Higgs, or involving the Higgs, have been considered in some detail. The report is structured into four main parts. The first one deals with Standard Model physics, except the Higgs. A variety of arguments are treated here, from full simulation of processes constituting a background to Higgs production, to studies of uncertainties due to PDFs and to extrapolations of models for underlying events, from small-$x$ issues to electroweak corrections which may play a role in vector boson physics. The second part of the report treats Higgs physics from the point of view of the signal. In the third part, reviews are presented on the current status of multi-leg, next-to-leading order and of next-to-next-to-leading order QCD computations. Finally, the fourth part deals with the use of Monte Carlos for simulation of LHC physics