Competitive strategies in construction firms : the impact of alternative project delivery systems

Bibliography: leaves 185-194.This thesis investigates the impact of the introduction of alternative project delivery systems to the traditional on the competitive strategies of construction firms. The work focuses on project delivery systems from a construction company perspective, and draws from the experiences an over the world for its findings. A literature review of project delivery systems, their evolution and introduction was undertaken in depth. This showed the types of delivery systems: their advantages and disadvantages and the reasons they were preferred. A review of strategy was then undertaken to introduce and discuss the concepts that influence competing firms. The construction industry has unique characteristics that differentiate it from other industries. A short discussion of these characteristics and how they influence strategy in construction companies was therefore done. This then led to a review of strategy in the construction industry. The concepts of project delivery and strategy in construction companies were then linked to show, with illustrations, how delivery systems are used as competitive strategy. To investigate the topic further construction companies were surveyed to find out the connection between the two concepts. It was found that alternative delivery systems are increasingly being used by the firms. They were also familiar with concepts of formal strategy and were actively using such concepts. Firms were found to be using delivery systems specifically as a competitive strategy and intended to do so more in future. The findings suggest that the use of delivery in such a manner was not the result of a deliberate plan but more a reaction to the changes in the industry. Construction firms need a greater appreciation of the role of project delivery systems in their strategy as this will help them achieve their objectives better, and result in a more efficient industry

Long-Term Impacts of Tillage, Cover Crops, and Nitrogen Rates on Microbial Community Dynamics and Soil Quality Parameters under Continuous Cotton Production in West Tennessee

Microbial communities play a central role in nutrient cycling and soil quality in agro-ecosystems. This research focused on a comparative analysis of the microbial community structure and activity of soils on long-term (31 years) continuous cotton- Gossypium hirsutum L., production in West Tennessee under conservation agricultural (CA) and conventional tillage practices that included: Nitrogen (N) fertilizer rates (N-rates) (0, 34, 67 and 101 kg N per ha); Cover crops (Hairy vetch-Vicia villosa and winter wheat- Triticum aestivum, and a No Cover control); and Tillage (Till and No-till). It was expected that microbial diversity, activity and soil quality would be greater under CA practices relative to conventional tillage. The microbial community structure profiled using Fatty Acid Methyl Ester extractions (FAME) revealed FAME indicators for Gram positive bacteria, actinomycetes and mycorrhiza fungi to be significantly greater (p \u3c 0.05) in the No-till treatments relative to Till. In contrast, the saprophytic fungi indicators were significantly greater (p \u3c 0.05) in the Till treatments resulting in significantly greater fungi to bacteria FAME ratio under Till than No-till. N-rate had a significant effect on the relative abundance of the mycorrhiza biomarker which decreased with increasing N-rate. Results from high-throughput 16S rRNA gene sequencing analysis revealed microbial diversity in soils under 101 N-rates to be significantly (p \u3c 0.05) less diverse than the 34 and 67 N-rates. However, tillage and cover crop did not significantly influence bacterial diversity. Soil quality properties revealed significantly greater (p \u3c 0.05) total carbon and N in the combination of No-till treatments having cover crops, with the No-till treatments also having significantly greater extractable nutrients (phosphorous, potassium, and calcium, and enzymatic activity (beta-glucosidase, beta-glucosaminidase, and phosphodiesterase) indicating an improvement in soil quality and fertility. This study reveals that CA practices involving No-till and cover crops promote conditions that support an increase in the abundance and activity of soil microbial communities, in turn leading to greater soil nutrient cycling capacity and soil quality. This long-term assessment was able to provide an overview of the benefits of C sequestration with these CA practices for low biomass crops like cotton under a monoculture production

Manipulating cyanobacteria: Spirulina for potential CELSS diet

Spirulina sp. as a bioregenerative photosynthetic and an edible alga for spacecraft crew in a CELSS, was characterized for the biomass yield in batch cultures, under various environmental conditions. The partitioning of the assimalitory products (proteins, carbohydrates, lipids) were manipulated by varying the environmental growth conditions. Experiments with Spirulina have shown that under stress conditions (i.e., high light 160 uE/sq m/s, temperature 38 C, nitrogen or phosphate limitation; 0.1 M sodium chloride) carbohydrates increased at the expense of proteins. In other experiments, where the growth media were sufficient in nutrients and incubated under optimum growth conditions, the total of the algal could be manipulated by growth conditions. These results support the feasibility of considering Spirulina as a subsystem in CELSS because of the ease with which its nutrient content can be manipulated

Modeling heat stress in dairy cattle using high spatio-temporal resolution observational and grid-interpolated weather data

Thermal stress affects milk production and quality in dairy cattle. High spatio-temporal resolution weather data is necessary for evaluation of thermal stress effects on milk production traits for management purposes to mitigate production losses. The first objective of this study was to analyze the effects of heat stress on milk production in a tropical environment. The aim was to detect heat stress thresholds, milk yield loss and individual animal variations using random regression models. Grid-interpolated daily average temperature and temperature humidity index (THI) were suitable indicators of heat stress. In the second objective, high spatio-temporal resolution weather data were applied to analyze thermal stress effects on herd average milk traits in a temperate environment. A validation analysis was performed to compare the correlation between weather station data (WSD) and gridded numerical weather prediction (NWP) model data. Results indicated high correlation coefficients (r) of 0.97 for daily average temperature and THI and 0.84 for relative humidity in southern region of Bavaria, Germany. This implied that missing WSD can be adequately filled-up by NWP data. However, care should be taken in mountainous regions to account for both vertical and horizontal topographical profiles. Both WSD and NWP daily average temperature and THI were suitable indicators of heat stress in cattle. Herd average reaction norms for milk production traits and the thresholds for heat stress were estimated for Bavarian conditions. Cooling THI-day, defined as the average hourly THI above a set threshold, was formulated and applied as a heat stress indicator. Models combining THI and cooling THI-days indicated that cooling THI-day provided additional significant (p<0.001) information to THI models. Results show that cooling THI-day would be a suitable heat stress indicator when cold stress is not significant and the threshold for heat stress for the given trait can be estimated

Substance use, abuse and risky sexual behaviour among students studying health related courses in a tertiary institution in western Kenya

Background: Substance abuse among university students in Kenya is currently a major public health concern. Drugs such as tobacco and alcohol are now widely and easily available in the universities. Colleges therefore form the main locus of substance abuse, with more than 40% of students already affected. Health care professionals are believed to be the lead in healthy practices but as well can be a serious source of safety lapses for patients if they engage in substance misuse. Although this is a very important subject area, studies regarding prevalence of substance abuse especially among students undertaking health related courses remain scant.Objective: The study sought to determine substance use/abuse and likely consequences among student studying health related courses at a tertiary institution.Study Setting: The study was conducted among students undertaking health related courses in the College of Health Sciences within a large tertiary learning institution in Western Kenya.Study Subjects: The College of Health Sciences has four main schools; Medicine, Nursing, Dentistry and Public Health. Two schools; school of Medicine and school of Nursing were picked using simple random sampling. Proportionate sampling was then applied to each group. In total, 376 students from both the Bachelor of Science in Nursing and medicine programs were interviewed using a pre-tested questionnaire.Results: The main substance commonly used and abused among students in the college of Health Sciences is alcohol. Other substances include; cigarettes, miraa and cannabis. About 37% of all the students interviewed had ever consumed alcohol. Of those who had taken alcohol, 35.6% were nursing students while 64.4% were medical students. More males (56.8%) than females (43.2%) drink alcohol. Factors associated with substance abuse include: gender; females are less likely to use/abuse substances compared to males (P;0.007, A.O.R; 0.518, C.I.0.373 - 0.908), religion; Muslim students are less likely to participate to use/abuse substances compared to other religions (P;0.005; A.O.R;0.173 C.I;0.046-0.504) and type of student residence; students renting rooms outside are more likely to use/abuse substances compared to their counterparts living in the hostels (P;0.158;A.O.R;4.58,C.I;0.556-22.955). There was a strong association between alcohol use and engagement in risky sexual behavior (X2=20.4, P: 0.001). Students who take alcohol are more likely to suffer other effects such as quarrels (16.8%), fights (12%), injuries (12.2%), loss of money/valuables (19.4%) and relationship problems.Conclusions: Substance use and consequently abuse among students at the college of Health sciences is moderately high and there is a potential for this vice increasing further. Behaviour change strategies should be designed to address this problem among students at the college of health sciences

SCHOOL TYPE INFLUENCE ON THE LEVELS OF STRESS AMONG THE SECONDARY SCHOOL ADMINISTRATORS IN NAKURU COUNTY, KENYA

The stress level among the secondary school administrators is relatively associated with the amount of work in different type of schools. Different type of schools receives different student with varied abilities hence the level of expectation by the education stakeholders vary from type of school to the other. This expectation is all focused on the school administrators who are expected to achieve both physical structure of the school and the academic achievement in relation to the ability of the students they receive. This study was interested in examining the influence of type of the school on the level of stress among the secondary school administrators in Nakuru County, Kenya. The study used analysis of variance ANOVA to test on the difference in the mean stress score among the secondary school administrators. The study used a descriptive research design. The target population was 1200 respondents who consisted of 400 secondary school principals, 400 deputy principals, and 400 senior teachers. A sample of 588 respondents was selected using purposive and proportionate stratified random sampling. The sample consisted of 196 principals, 196 deputy principals and 196 senior teachers. The study used questionnaires to collect the data, and focus group discussion was used to access the levels of stress among the School principals. The study found that the type of school significantly influenced the level of stress among the secondary school administrators since the p-value = 0.000, which was less than 0.05 significant level. The study further found that the secondary school administrators in Nakuru County in Kenya, have been applying different mitigation strategies to cope with stress. The study recommends that Ministry of Education, Teachers Service Commission and the School's Board of Management should keenly monitor class size and stress management programs in secondary schools to reduce stress among secondary school administrators. Article visualizations

Clinical experiences of RN to BScN nursing students in Kenyan universities

Introduction and objective: Clinical learning environments play a great role in nursing training as they allow nursing students to develop their clinical skills by combining cognitive, psychomotor and affective skills. Consequently, clinical learning environments enable nursing students to bridge the theory-practice gap. Fewer studies have examined the clinical experiences of RN to BScN students in Kenya. This paper is part of analytical memo of a larger PhD study that sought to explore and describe the support needs of RN to BScN students in Kenyan universities. The paper focuses on clinical experiences of RN to BScN students. Methods: Using a qualitative phenomenological approach, ten focus group discussions were conducted with 100 RN to BScN students, purposively sampled from four universities in Kenya. Data were analyzed using Tesch’s data analysis protocol. The article has adhered to Consolidated criteria for reporting qualitative studies. Results: The data on RN to BScN students’ clinical experience revealed two themes: curriculum challenges and practice environment and six sub-themes: redundant learning outcomes, redundant clinical assessments, not acknowledging prior learning, lack of clinical supervision, lack of learning resources and “an extra pair of hands”. Conclusions: The study findings highlight the need for review of clinical learning outcomes for the RN to BScN students in Kenya. The findings emphasize the need for collaborative partnerships between universities, clinical learning environments, nurse educators, and policy makers, to design of clinical learning outcomes relevant to RN to BScN students in Kenya

A high rate of Human Immunodeficiency Virus infection among suspected Tuberculosis cases in Western Kenya

Background: Kenya is a high HIV/AIDS prevalence country and the epidemic has been declared a national disaster, and is at top of the government’s agenda. Objective: To determine the prevalence of HIV infection among suspected tuberculosis (TB) cases seeking healthcare at chest and paediatric clinics in Western Kenya. Methods: This cross-sectional study was done between 2007 and 2009. A total of 695 suspected TB cases (388 males and 312 females) were screened for HIV infection using Trinity Biotech Uni-Gold TM test and positives confirmed with the enzyme linked immunosorbent assay. A questionnaire was used to collect demographic data of the participants. Results: In total, 272 (39.1%) of the suspects were HIV infected 50.7% females and 48.3% males. Females were significantly affected than males [OR = 0.69; 95% CI: 0.51-0.94; P = 0.02]. The majority (39.3%) of the HIV cases were in the 25-34 age-group followed by the 35-44 (24.6%) and 15-24 (15.8%) age-groups respectively. Only 16.9% of HIV-infected cases were on antiretroviral therapy. Conclusions: The prevalence of HIV infection among suspected TB cases was 39.1%, which was relatively lower than 48%, 45% and 44% prevalence rates reported by Division of Leprosy Tuberculosis and Lung Disease (DLTLD) in the annual reports of 2007, 2008 and 2009, respectively. However, it was much higher the current national average HIV prevalence of 7.2%. Keywords: HIV prevalence; healthcare seekers; chest and paediatric clinics; suspected TB case

An Analysis of Stylistic Trends in Published Kiswahili Short Story Genre

Writers express themselves in varied styles regardless of the genre they use as their vehicle of expression. Writing styles can also vary depending on the genre in focus. In this regard, therefore, stylistic issues can be focused upon from a two prong approach; that is from a writer’s centered focus and secondly from a genre-based focus. Kiswahili Short story manifests generic features that are unique to the short story genre only. On the other hand, different writers have used a variety of styles to weave their stories. Some of these styles at times seem to be unique to specific writers. This paper uses stylistic approaches to analyse Kiswahili short stories and exemplifies how stylistic features are applied to the short stories. The paper concludes that Kiswahili short story genre has come of age and indeed continues to grow. As a result, as the paper shows, Kiswahili short story is weaved using a variety of styles that make it more interesting, informative and educative. Most of these styles give Kiswahili short story a unique African rendition that is born out of interweaving both exotic and native African styles. Key Words: Genre, Kiswahili, short story, stylistic approache

Endemicity and increasing incidence of leprosy in Kenya and other world epidemiologic regions: A review

Introduction: Leprosy ancient disease also called Hansen’s disease, is a chronic, progressive infectious disease caused by the bacterium Mycobacterium leprae. An obligate intracellular parasite, and a close relative of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis. It primarily affects the nerves of the extremities (peripheral nerves), the lining (mucous membranes) of the nose, eyes, and the upper respiratory tract. It produces skin sores, nerve damage, and muscle weakness leading to deformity and erosion. Aim: This review article was to theorize and hypothesize the recurrence of unique human, M. leprae or environmental characteristics that favour the endemicity, prolonged survival and Leprosy transmission in the affected epidemiologic regions, including parts of Kenya. Highlight the age old traditional line of perception about this disease Objective: Even though global efforts to control Leprosy by intensive multi-drug chemotherapy (MDT) since 1964 have led to a significant decrease in the number of reported new cases. The disease continues to be endemic in many epidemiologic regions. Some regions experiencing increasing incidence.&nbsp; The disease has afflicted humankind throughout history leaving evidence in both early texts and archaeological record. Leprosy’s origins have reportedly existed as late as 3,500 BC. However, some of the earliest written records that accurately reflect leprosy appears to be from the 600 BC Sushruta Samhita text from India. The interplay of emotional and social factors modify or transform the life programme of persons afflicted with leprosy. Just like the current pandemic cancers, Leprosy is still a crucial global health concern. The MDT for leprosy was designed to prevent emergence and transmission of drug-resistant M. leprae strains. However, in the African epidemiologic regions, Peer reviewed articles on the Internet, Journals and Relevant topics in textbooks were reviewed. Methodology:&nbsp; A literature review was done to up-date the socio-cultural perception of leprosy in Indian religions and ancient texts' references were obtained through examining relevant bibliographies and the views/suggestions of eminent scholars engaged in this field39 A Sociological study was carried out in respondents of a Lepers Colony (Gandhi Kusth Ashram), Jodhpur, India. An attempt was made to study the knowledge about causation of Leprosy, age at onset, and treatment. The reason for leaving their original place of origin (South India) was asked. A majority (95.2%) of patients were Hindus, had onset of leprosy in the age group of below 20 to 30 years (80.94%) they had a literacy rate of 6.3% only.&nbsp; Leprosy is most challenging to behavioral scientists interested in the description and theory of medical sociology as a psychosocial phenomenon. However, the country is currently battling with resurgence of the disease, which is characterized with high numbers of relapses. Conclusion: The observed continued endemicity and increasing incidence of leprosy in some epidemiologic regions raised the assumption of the existence of unique human, M. laprae or environmental factors that favour prolonged survival and transmission of M. leprae. Unique strains of M. leprae with selective advantage to circumvent BCG induced immunity, or resistant to anti-leprotic drugs may also have emerged. Further interrogation of this assumption could generate valuable information for improved control of leprosy. &nbsp;Key words: Mycobacterium leprae, leprosy, endemicity, incidence, re-emergence, contro