Analysis of Performance Appraisal Implementation on Organization Performance in Saccos: Case of Kisii County, Kenya

Performance management is one of the important key activities performed by organizations to monitor the performance of their employees. Organizations must regularly evaluate the performance of their employees in order to understand their current and future abilities. The purpose of this paper is to assess the impact of performance management on employee and organizational performance. The study adopted a cross-sectional survey research design and involved a sample size of 120 human resource officers and managers from selected private organizations in Tanzania. Data was collected using structured questionnaires and interviews and analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics and the results presented using tables. The findings of the study reveal that private organizations practice performance management and have effective performance management system to evaluate/appraise the performance of their employees. Moreover, the findings reveal that there is a significant relationship between performance management and employee performance as well as between performance management and organizational performance. The study recommends the need of the private organizations to maintain and continue practising and implementing effective performance management systems, also to continue evaluating the performance of their employees frequently because it helps to determine training needs and at the same time acts as a motivational strategy hence leads to a better performance of employees and organization. Performance appraisal is the basic tendency to make an evaluation of an individual's work performance in order to arrive at objective personal decisions. It systematically reviews a person's work and achievements over a recent period, leading to plans for the future in personnel psychology. Savings and Credit Co-operative Societies (SACCOs) are voluntary associations to which members contribute regularly their pooled savings and from which they obtain loans for provident and other purposes. Generally, SACCOs are established with the objective of promoting savings and credit with training opportunities on the wise use of their funds. An extensive use of performance appraisal in SACCOs helps in the improvement of individual job performance, promote employee training and development, focus on SACCO goals, encourage teamwork, promote co-operation, improve ability of SACCOs to hire' qualified employees and enable employees determine what it takes to be successful in SACCO movement. The general objective of the study was to investigate the extent of implementation of performance appraisal in SACCOs in Kisii Central district. A descriptive survey design was adopted to conduct the study. It was relevant because it is used to assess attitudes and opinions about events, individuals or procedures. The study focused on employees of active SACCOs in Kisii Central District, Kenya. The data was collected using questionnaires, arranged and grouped according to particular research questions, tabulated and analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics by Software Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). The study showed that a large proportion of SACCOs (76.0) lacked performance appraisal. Those SACCOS that had performance appraisal (24), carried it out once a year and it was largely conducted by the general manager. To a less extent, the performance appraisal helped the SACCOs to rate the workers strengths and weaknesses. Although it was revealed that performance appraisal helped SACCOs in overcoming challenges at work; unfortunately, many SACCOs did not use it in implementing decisions that concerned workers welfare and job mobility. Keywords: Performance Appraisal Implementation, Organization Performance in Saccos, Kisii County in Kenya. DOI: 10.7176/EJBM/11-29-08 Publication date:October 31st 2019

Socioeconomic factors hindering domestic tourism consumption in Kenya: the case of Nakuru, Mombasa and Nairobi towns.

This study examined the socioeconomic factors that affect domestic tourism in Mombasa, Nairobi and Nakuru with a view of addressing them in order to improve domestic tourism consumption in Kenya. The study targeted 600 respondents from among those who had participated or intended to participate in domestic tourism, using a questionnaire as the tool for data collection. It investigated a sample of a cross-section of the tourist stakeholders and through questionnaires schedules, obtained data from respondents consisting of those who had participated or intended to participate in domestic tourism. The respondents from the tourist industry players in the regions was selected using purposive and stratified random sampling methods. A total of 558 respondents out of 600 filled out the instruments at a response rate of 93%. The data was analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics . It was established that the level of education (86%) and income (76%) were the major contributing factors in domestic tourism consumption .this is where data was extracted for analysis and the researcher then made statistical The study findings indicated that the level of education was a major contributing factor in domestic tourism with 86% of participants having a middle level education, and above. Age was found to have a significant impact on the level of participation in domestic tourism. Education level was found to have a positive influence on participation in domestic tourism

Knowledge and attitudes of undergraduate medical students in Kenya towards solid organ donation and transplantation: Are Africa’s future clinicians prepared?

Background: Solid organ donation and transplantation remains grossly underdeveloped in most African countries. The knowledge and attitude of tomorrow’s professionals may be key to the improvement of these services. Methods: A sample of undergraduate medical students from all the medical schools in Kenya offering Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery degrees were surveyed using a self-administered, web-based questionnaire, between July and September 2018. Results: Of the 303 participants, 167 (55.1%) were female. Only 8.9% of the students had read the laws governing transplantation in Kenya. An even lower percentage (3.3%) felt that they had learned enough about solid organ donation and transplantation from their medical curriculum. More than half (53%) of the respondents would subscribe as solid organ donors, which reduced to 47% when it came to consenting to donating their relatives’ organs. Less than half of the students (40%) considered they would be comfortable introducing the topic or confident answering questions (23%) related to organ donation and transplantation. Only 9.9% of the sample had ever spoken to a patient about organ donation. There was no significant association between level of study (preclinical versus clinical) and comfort introducing the topic of organ donation (P = 0.206) or experience talking to a patient about the subject (P = 0.102). Conclusion: Undergraduate medical students have significant knowledge gaps regarding organ donation and transplantation and feel ill-prepared to approach a potential donor or transplant recipient. &nbsp

Tumour micro-environment elicits innate resistance to RAF inhibitors through HGF secretion.

Drug resistance presents a challenge to the treatment of cancer patients. Many studies have focused on cell-autonomous mechanisms of drug resistance. By contrast, we proposed that the tumour micro-environment confers innate resistance to therapy. Here we developed a co-culture system to systematically assay the ability of 23 stromal cell types to influence the innate resistance of 45 cancer cell lines to 35 anticancer drugs. We found that stroma-mediated resistance is common, particularly to targeted agents. We characterized further the stroma-mediated resistance of BRAF-mutant melanoma to RAF inhibitors because most patients with this type of cancer show some degree of innate resistance. Proteomic analysis showed that stromal cell secretion of hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) resulted in activation of the HGF receptor MET, reactivation of the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) and phosphatidylinositol-3-OH kinase (PI(3)K)-AKT signalling pathways, and immediate resistance to RAF inhibition. Immunohistochemistry experiments confirmed stromal cell expression of HGF in patients with BRAF-mutant melanoma and showed a significant correlation between HGF expression by stromal cells and innate resistance to RAF inhibitor treatment. Dual inhibition of RAF and either HGF or MET resulted in reversal of drug resistance, suggesting RAF plus HGF or MET inhibitory combination therapy as a potential therapeutic strategy for BRAF-mutant melanoma. A similar resistance mechanism was uncovered in a subset of BRAF-mutant colorectal and glioblastoma cell lines. More generally, this study indicates that the systematic dissection of interactions between tumours and their micro-environment can uncover important mechanisms underlying drug resistance

Tumor microenvironment induces innate RAF-inhibitor resistance through HGF secretion

Drug resistance remains a vexing problem in the treatment of cancer patients. While many studies have focused on cell autonomous mechanisms of drug resistance, we hypothesized that the tumor microenvironment may confer innate resistance to therapy. Here we developed a co-culture system to systematically assay the ability of 23 stromal cell types to influence the innate resistance of 45 cancer cell lines to 35 anti-cancer drugs. We found that stroma-mediated resistance is surprisingly common – particularly to targeted agents. We further characterized the stroma-mediated resistance of BRAF-mutant melanoma to RAF inhibition because most of these patients exhibit some degree of innate resistance1-4. Proteomic analysis showed that stromal secretion of the growth factor hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) resulted in activation of the HGF receptor MET, reactivation of the MAPK and PI3K/AKT pathways, and immediate resistance to RAF inhibition. Immunohistochemistry confirmed stromal HGF expression in patients with BRAF-mutant melanoma and a statistically significant correlation between stromal HGF expression and innate resistance to treatment. Dual inhibition of RAF and MET resulted in reversal of drug resistance, suggesting RAF/MET combination therapy as a potential therapeutic strategy for BRAF-mutant melanoma. A similar resistance mechanism was uncovered in a subset of BRAF-mutant colorectal and glioblastoma cell lines. More generally, these studies indicate that the systematic dissection of tumor-microenvironment interactions may reveal important mechanisms underlying drug resistance

Uptake and yield of HIV testing and counselling among children and adolescents in sub-Saharan Africa: a systematic review.

INTRODUCTION: In recent years children and adolescents have emerged as a priority for HIV prevention and care services. We conducted a systematic review to investigate the acceptability, yield and prevalence of HIV testing and counselling (HTC) strategies in children and adolescents (5 to 19 years) in sub-Saharan Africa. METHODS: An electronic search was conducted in MEDLINE, EMBASE, Global Health and conference abstract databases. Studies reporting on HTC acceptability, yield and prevalence and published between January 2004 and September 2014 were included. Pooled proportions for these three outcomes were estimated using a random effects model. A quality assessment was conducted on included studies. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: A total of 16,380 potential citations were identified, of which 21 studies (23 entries) were included. Most studies were conducted in Kenya (n=5) and Uganda (n=5) and judged to provide moderate (n=15) to low quality (n=7) evidence, with data not disaggregated by age. Seven studies reported on provider-initiated testing and counselling (PITC), with the remainder reporting on family-centred (n=5), home-based (n=5), outreach (n=5) and school-linked HTC among primary schoolchildren (n=1). PITC among inpatients had the highest acceptability (86.3%; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 65.5 to 100%), yield (12.2%; 95% CI: 6.1 to 18.3%) and prevalence (15.4%; 95% CI: 5.0 to 25.7%). Family-centred HTC had lower acceptance compared to home-based HTC (51.7%; 95% CI: 10.4 to 92.9% vs. 84.9%; 95% CI: 74.4 to 95.4%) yet higher prevalence (8.4%; 95% CI: 3.4 to 13.5% vs. 3.0%; 95% CI: 1.0 to 4.9%). School-linked HTC showed poor acceptance and low prevalence. CONCLUSIONS: While PITC may have high test acceptability priority should be given to evaluating strategies beyond healthcare settings (e.g. home-based HTC among families) to identify individuals earlier in their disease progression. Data on linkage to care and cost-effectiveness of HTC strategies are needed to strengthen policies

Prevalence of all epilepsies in urban informal settlements in Nairobi, Kenya: a two-stage population-based study

BACKGROUND: WHO estimates that more than 50 million people worldwide have epilepsy and 80% of cases are in low-income and middle-income countries. Most studies in Africa have focused on active convulsive epilepsy in rural areas, but there are few data in urban settings. We aimed to estimate the prevalence and spatial distribution of all epilepsies in two urban informal settlements in Nairobi, Kenya. METHODS: We did a two-stage population-based cross-sectional study of residents in a demographic surveillance system covering two informal settlements in Nairobi, Kenya (Korogocho and Viwandani). Stage 1 screened all household members using a validated epilepsy screening questionnaire to detect possible cases. In stage 2, those identified with possible seizures and a proportion of those screening negative were invited to local clinics for clinical and neurological assessments by a neurologist. Seizures were classified following the International League Against Epilepsy recommendations. We adjusted for attrition between the two stages using multiple imputations and for sensitivity by dividing estimates by the sensitivity value of the screening tool. Complementary log-log regression was used to assess prevalence differences by participant socio-demographics. FINDINGS: A total of 56 425 individuals were screened during stage 1 (between Sept 17 and Dec 23, 2021) during which 1126 were classified as potential epilepsy cases. A total of 873 were assessed by a neurologist in stage 2 (between April 12 and Aug 6, 2022) during which 528 were confirmed as epilepsy cases. 253 potential cases were not assessed by a neurologist due to attrition. 30 179 (53·5%) of the 56 425 individuals were male and 26 246 (46·5%) were female. The median age was 24 years (IQR 11-35). Attrition-adjusted and sensitivity-adjusted prevalence for all types of epilepsy was 11·9 cases per 1000 people (95% CI 11·0-12·8), convulsive epilepsy was 8·7 cases per 1000 people (8·0-9·6), and non-convulsive epilepsy was 3·2 cases per 1000 people (2·7-3·7). Overall prevalence was highest among separated or divorced individuals at 20·3 cases per 1000 people (95% CI 15·9-24·7), unemployed people at 18·8 cases per 1000 people (16·2-21·4), those with no formal education at 18·5 cases per 1000 people (16·3-20·7), and adolescents aged 13-18 years at 15·2 cases per 1000 people (12·0-18·5). The epilepsy diagnostic gap was 80%. INTERPRETATION: Epilepsy is common in urban informal settlements of Nairobi, with large diagnostic gaps. Targeted interventions are needed to increase early epilepsy detection, particularly among vulnerable groups, to enable prompt treatment and prevention of adverse social consequences. FUNDING: National Institute for Health Research using Official Development Assistance

Unusual Presentation of Multisystemic Inflammatory Syndrome

COVID-19 pneumonia in children presents with very mild symptoms through an entity of multisystem inflammatory syndrome and can result in a life-threatening hyperinflammatory condition, with involvement of at least four organ systems and a marked inflammatory state. We present an 18-year-old high school student who presented with a sore throat, macular rash, abdominal pain, diarrhea, fevers, and joint pains. He presented with acute kidney injury and confusion with multiple tests and was eventually diagnosed with multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C)

Galectins and lymphatic filariasis : exploring the role of Brugia malayi galectins in parasite persistence

Galectins have been identified by proteomic profiling as abundantly produced excretory-secretory (ES) products of the lymphatic dwelling parasite, Brugia malayi. Galectins as soluble mediators have the potential to interact at a molecular level and down-regulate the host\u27s immune machinery. Therefore galectins are a promising target for rational drug design against parasite persistence. Human galectins have roles in immunity, tumorigenesis, inflammation, embryogenesis and development. The highly conserved nature of galectins across diverse multicellular organisms and their bewildering functions in humans have led to speculations on the potential role of helminth galectins in parasite persistence. The current work involves bioinformatic analysis of galectin genes for gene-specific primer design, comparison with human galectin amino-acid sequences and conventional PCR to determine the differential expression of six Brugia malayi galectin genes across its life cycle