An analysis of the trade regime in Kenya

Certain developments in international trade have made it inevitable for LDCs to commence import-substituting industrialization. The measures used to intervene in trade for this purpose have resulted in certain factor and commodity price distortions in the domestic economies of LDCs, giving rise to resource allocational and income distribution effects which are not often appreciated. Tariffs quantitative restrictions, import duty drawbacks on inputs as well as administrative controls are shown to have been widely used in Kenya to promote industrialization and exports. Different combinations of these policies have different effects on income distributions resource allocation and profits. The effects are further complicated by imperfections in import-substituting industries. Certain measures are proposed for more efficient combinations of the policies in the face of imperfections

ADSORPTION OF DURSBAN (CHLORPYRIFOS) PESTICIDE BY LOAM SOIL FROM LIMURU, KENYA: APPARENT THERMODYNAMIC PROPERTIES

The adsorption phenomenon of chlorpyrifos by suspended loam soil particles from Limuru, Kenya in an aqueous solution was studied using a model which assumes the adsorption/ desorption relations: nSXSnX⇔+, ][]/[][SXSXKnn= and ln[x]ads = ln(nK’) + nln[x]e + [sxn]w, where Xis the chemical species of interest; S is the substrate; K is the adsorption/desorption equilibrium constant; nSX is the particle-pesticide complex. The apparent adsorption equilibrium constant; [X]ads is concentration of X in adsorbed state in suspension. [X]e is the concentration of X in solution at equilibrium and [ nSX]w is the pesticide adsorption site complex in the suspension at equilibrium. The amount of chlorpyrifos adsorbed was determined against variation of mass of sediment, concentration of chlorpyrifos and contact time using UV-Visible spectrophotometer at 254nm. The data obtained in this study best fitted the quasi-langmuir adsorption isotherm with regression values of up to 0.992. The calculated values of the apparent K, n and 'GΔwere found to be 118.665, 0.244 and -11.7946kj/mol respectively. The negative value for 'GΔconfirmed the fact that adsorption reaction occurs spontaneously as expected. Moreover, adsorption of chlorpyrifos onto suspended/dissolved sediment particles decreased with increase in mass of the substrate.Key words: Adsorption, pesticide, chlorpyrifos, adsorption equilibrium constant, UV-Visible spectrophotometer

Bisphenol A Detection on a Carbon Graphite Electrode Modified with a Polyaniline- 2,2’-Azinobis-(3-Ethyl Benzothiazolin-6-Sulfonic Acid) Composite using Horseradish Peroxidase Enzyme as a Bio-recognition Unit, Preliminary Results

Bisphenol A is an endocrine disruptor which is almost ubiquitous. It is found in plastics, supermarket thermal receipts, CDs, food containers, water bottles, building materials amongst others. Bisphenol A has being associated with serious health issues ranging from obesity to cancer. This study aimed at developing an electrochemical method for the detection of bisphenol A in the environment. Horse radish peroxidase enzyme encapsulated on a modified polyaniline graphite carbon paste electrode was the recognition system. All electrochemical experiments were done on the cyclic voltammetric mode. The conducting properties of the polyaniline- Polyaniline 2, 2’-Azinobis [3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid] polymer composites were carried out using UV-Vis spetrophotometry. The presence of polaron and bipolaron bands in the UV-Vis spectra at around 446 nm and or greater than 650 nm indicated improved polymer conductivity. Preliminary results for the HRP/H2O2 system displayed a 1.54 x10-4 peak current signal de-attenuation on addition of cumulative aliquots of 0 – 2500 nM. The greater than 90% signal de-attenuation was due to presence of BPA provided- a basis for creating a BPA detection methodology based on inhibition in future studies

The Status Quo, Characteristics and Challenges of Vocational Education Development in Kenya Under the Background of International Aid

Since independence, the political situation in Kenya has gradually stabilized and the economy has developed rapidly. With the government's increasing emphasis on education, vocational education has received unprecedented attention as an important driving force for national economic transformation. Under the influence of international environment and national economic development and industrial level, the development of vocational education in Kenya is divided into three stages: the period of professional development of secondary education in the early 60s and early 1980s; the adjustment and depression of vocational education policy in the late 1980s and 1990s. During that period and this century, the development of vocational education in Kenya has been promoted along with the Millennium Development Goals. Driven by a series of policies issued by the Kenyan government, the development of vocational education has made remarkable progress. By analyzing the professional cooperation between Kenya and international organizations and other countries, the characteristics and challenges of vocational education in Kenya are summarized. Keywords: Vocational Education; Kenya; Characteristics ; Challenges ;International Ai

The performance of plant species in removing nutrients from stormwater in biofiltration systems in Cape Town

In 2009, the City of Cape Town (CoCT) adopted a stormwater policy which mandates that new and existing developments should reduce the concentration of phosphorus and suspended solids in stormwater runoff by 45% and 80%, respectively, but offered no explicit guidance about how these water quality targets might be achieved. This study aims to contribute to the limited knowledge that exists about the performance of local plant species to treat stormwater. A large nursery-based study was conducted to investigate the performance of 9 locally-occurring plant species to remove orthophosphate (PO4-3), ammonia (NH3) and nitrate (NO3-) found in urban stormwater. Synthetic stormwater was applied to each species as well as a control consisting only of soil (Malmesbury shale). The discharge was collected from a drainage pipe at the base of each of the 150 containers. The results show that all species (excluding Ficinia) reduced the average concentrations of PO4-3 by 81% and NH3 by 90%. By contrast, NO3- was reduced by an average of 69% (excluding by Elegia and Phragmites) with 8 of the 9 species removing significantly more than the control. The species that performed well for all three nutrients include Agapanthus and turf grasses, Stenotaphrum and Pennisetum. The results of the study highlight three important factors in the design of biofilters: that a substantial proportion of nutrients can be captured or absorbed by plants; that the soil medium is an important factor in the removal of PO4-3 and NH3; and that plant choice is essential in the removal of NO3-. Future research should test plant species in both the laboratory and field settings, and should include additional contaminants such as household detergents, heavy metals and bacteria

Artificial Neural Network for Prediction of Pollution Load of Lead, Copper, and Cadmium in a Water Resource: A case Study of River Sosiani, Eldoret Municipality, Kenya

This study aimed at predicting the pollution load of Lead, Copper, and Cadmium in river Sosiani using the Artificial Neural Network, based on parameters, Physico-chemical; turbidity, Electrical Conductivity, and Chemical Oxygen Demand, and Chemical; fluoride and phosphate. The Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer, Ultra Violet-Visible Spectrophotometer, Ion Selective electrodes and Redox-titration methods were used for analysis in from six sample sites, S1 to S6. A total of 78 datasets from the experimental results were used and divided into three, training 60%, testing 20%, and holdout 20%. The model used the IBM SPSS statistics 20 software, and performances evaluated using Pearson’s correlation coefficient. The mean pollution loads from laboratory analysis were 0.615±0.293, 0.037±0.027, and 0.096±0.030 mg/L while those from ANN were 0.615±0.293, 0.032±0.023, and 0.073±0.033 mg/L for Pb, Cu, and Cd, respectively. The correlation coefficients between the ANN and the observed values for Pb, Cu, and Cd were 0.9999, 0.9910, and 0.9965, respectively. The ANN was able to predict the pollution load of Pb, Cu, and Cd in the river

Serotype Diversity of Respiratory Human Adenoviruses amongst Pediatric Patients from Western Kenya, 2010-2012

Background: Respiratory illnesses are common among pediatric patients in Kenya, and many are attributed to viral causes. However, there is limited knowledge of the diversity of viral etiologies associated with these illnesses. Objective: To characterize respiratory adenoviruses isolates using serological and molecular approaches. Methods: A total of 1,879 samples were collected from symptomatic pediatric patients seeking medical care at New Nyanza Provincial General Hospital during the period of June 2010 to June 2012 and screened for adenoviruses as well as other respiratory viruses. Sixteen respiratory human adenoviruses (HAdVs) were isolated in Hep2 cell culture and characterized them using Immunofluorescence Assay, viral DNA amplification, sequencing and phylogenomics. Results: Phylogenetic characterization of the HAdVs using the hyper variable region 7 of the hexon gene identified HAdV B and C as the major species associated with respiratory infections during the study period. Amongst these, a single B-type and four C-type serotypes were identified.  The serotype distribution consisted of 31% HAdV B7, 25% HAdV C1, 25% HAdV C2, 6% HAdV C5, and 13% HAdV C6. Positive selection was observed in the nucleotide sequences from HAdV B7 and HAdV C5 signaling evolution of these two serotypes. Conclusion: These finding may be useful to policy makers regarding appropriate strain selection for vaccination in Kenya. Keywords: Respiratory Human adenovirus, Kenya, Pediatric, Serotype, Hexon, HVR-

Blood Parasite Load as an Early Marker to Predict Treatment Response in Visceral Leishmaniasis in Eastern Africa

Background: To expedite the development of new oral treatment regimens for visceral leishmaniasis (VL), there is a need for early markers to evaluate treatment response and predict long-term outcomes. Methods: Data from 3 clinical trials were combined in this study, in which Eastern African VL patients received various antileishmanial therapies. Leishmania kinetoplast DNA was quantified in whole blood with real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) before, during, and up to 6 months after treatment. The predictive performance of pharmacodynamic parameters for clinical relapse was evaluated using receiver-operating characteristic curves. Clinical trial simulations were performed to determine the power associated with the use of blood parasite load as a surrogate endpoint to predict clinical outcome at 6 months. Results: The absolute parasite density on day 56 after start of treatment was found to be a highly sensitive predictor of relapse within 6 months of follow-up at a cutoff of 20 parasites/mL (area under the curve 0.92, specificity 0.91, sensitivity 0.89). Blood parasite loads correlated well with tissue parasite loads (ρ = 0.80) and with microscopy gradings of bone marrow and spleen aspirate smears. Clinical trial simulations indicated a > 80% power to detect a difference in cure rate between treatment regimens if this difference was high (> 50%) and when minimally 30 patients were included per regimen. Conclusions: Blood Leishmania parasite load determined by qPCR is a promising early biomarker to predict relapse in VL patients. Once optimized, it might be useful in dose finding studies of new chemical entities.This work was supported by the European Union Seventh Framework Programme Africoleish (grant number 305178); the World Health Organization—Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases (WHO-TDR); the French Development Agency, France (grant number CZZ2062); UK aid, UK; the Federal Ministry of Education and Research through KfW, Germany; the Medicor Foundation, Liechtenstein; Médecins Sans Frontières, International; the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), Switzerland (grant number 81017718); the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs (DGIS), the Netherlands (grant number PDP15CH21); the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs (MEAE), France; The Rockefeller Foundation, USA; BBVA Foundation, Spain; the European Union—AfriKADIA project of the Second European and Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership Programme (EDCTP2) (grant number RIA2016S1635); and ZonMw/Dutch Research Council (NWO) Veni grant (project number 91617140 to T. P. C. D.).S