Influence of Principals’ Use of Collaborative Decision Making on Students’ Discipline in Public Secondary Schools in Kenya

The management of discipline has been and continues to be a thorny issue globally for educational managers. Collaborative decision making is one of the alternative disciplinary methods that governments have come up with for management of students’ discipline in schools to replace corporal punishment. This paper sought to investigate the influence of principals’ use of collaborative decision making as an alternative disciplinary on students’ discipline in public secondary schools. The study objective sough to establish the extent to which principals’ use of class meetings for collaborative decision making as an alternative disciplinary method influences students’ discipline in public secondary schools. The study employed Ex post facto research design and targeted 333 public secondary schools in Kitui County, Kenya. Stratified proportionate sampling and purposive sampling were used to select the sample size. Questionnaires and interview guides were used for data collection. Descriptive statistics was used to analyse, tabulate and present data. The Chi-square (x2) test was used to determine the strength of association between holding class meetings for collaborative decision making and students’ discipline and to test whether the observed relationship is significant or not. The study established that collaborative decision making was done within the school set up to enhance discipline. Of the principals contacted, 83.7 per cent indicated that there was use of class meetings as an alternative disciplinary method. Results of chi square had a P-value of 0.373. This indicates that there is no significant difference between class meetings for collaborative decision making and students’ discipline. The study concluded that there is no significant difference between holding class meetings with students for collaborative decision making and students’ discipline. The study recommends an improvement in implementing the resolutions arrived at during class meetings for this could lower tensions regarding areas that could be potentially divisive

PROJECT TEAM DEMOGRAPHIC DIVERSITY AND PERFORMANCE OF RURAL ROADS CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS IN KENYA

Technology sustainability in organisations is enhanced through creativity and innovation. By so doing, organisations are able to compete in turbulent markets and risky environments. With advances of technology, demographic diversity among the workforce has quickly become the greatest engine in business growth around the world since it enriches the workplace through broadening employee perspectives, strengthening their teams, and offering greater resources for problem resolution. Today’s workforce in organisations is a mix of different demographic factors. Most studies on demographic diversities among the workforce as well as emerging technologies have continuously resulted into inconsistent results on the direction and magnitude of their influence on performance of projects. The most affected include the construction of rural infrastructure projects especially roads due the role they play in supporting creativity, innovation and technology transfer in the rural areas and importantly demographic diversity is more pronounced. This paper therefore sought to establish the influence of age, gender, ethnicity and religion diversities of workers on performance of rural roads construction projects. The study was based on Kenya Rural Roads construction projects in Kenya. This paper adopted cross-sectional correlational survey design where structured questionnaire, interview guide and focussed group discussion were used in obtaining data from workers in rural roads construction projects. Descriptive and inferential analysis carried out indicated r= 0.788, R2 = 0.783, and F (1,195) = 319.256 at level of significance p=0.000<0.05. The null hypothesis was therefore rejected and concluded that there is a significant relationship between project team demographic diversity and performance of rural roads construction projects in Kenya. These findings indicate a thoughtful need to consider demographic diversity when constituting the project team to enhance performance in rural roads construction projects. This is therefore a clear evidence for government to draft policies to reaffirm the importance of project team demographic diversity in all its projects. For organisations and business practitioners, this paper recommends that firms should establish a robust system that records, collates, analyses, evaluates and recommends the best practices on effective implementation of diversity initiatives. This study recommends further study that would identify all demographi

Impact of DREAMS interventions on experiences of violence among adolescent girls and young women: Findings from population-based cohort studies in Kenya and South Africa

DREAMS aims to reduce HIV incidence among adolescent girls and young women (AGYW) by tackling drivers of HIV risk including gender-based violence. We evaluate the impact of DREAMS on recent experiences of violence perpetuated by men against AGYW. AGYW cohorts were randomly selected from demographic platforms in South Africa (rural KwaZulu-Natal) and Kenya (Nairobi informal settlements and rural Gem sub-county). AGYW aged 13-22 years were enrolled in 2017 (Nairobi, KwaZulu-Natal) or 2018 (Gem), with annual follow-up to 2019. We described proportions of AGYW who self-reported experiences of violence perpetrated by males in the 12 months preceding the interview, overall and by form (physical, sexual, emotional). We investigated associations with DREAMS (invitation to participate during 2017-2018) through multivariable propensity score-adjusted logistic regression and estimated the causal effect of DREAMS on experiences of violence, under counter-factual scenarios in which all versus no AGYW were DREAMS beneficiaries. Among 852, 1018 and 1712 AGYW followed-up in 2019 in Nairobi, Gem and KZN, respectively, proportions reporting any violence in 2019 were higher in Nairobi (29%) than Gem (18%) and KwaZulu-Natal (19%). By sub-type, emotional and physical violence were more frequently reported than sexual violence. We found no evidence of an impact attributable to DREAMS on overall levels of violence, in any setting. Nor was there evidence of impact on sub-types of violence, with one exception: an increase in physical violence in Nairobi if all, versus no, AGYW were DREAMS beneficiaries (16% vs 11%; +5% difference [95% CI: +0.2%, +10.0%]). Experiences of gender-based violence were common among AGYW, especially in urban settings, and DREAMS had no measurable impact on reducing violence within three years of implementation. Violence prevention programming that reaches more men and the broader community, sustained for longer periods, may yield greater gains in violence reduction than AGYW-focused programming. Additionally, more investment in implementation research is needed to bridge trial-based study findings from efficacy to population-level effectiveness

Herbal remedies and other risk factors for preterm birth in rural Kenya

Background: Premature infants contribute substantially to infant morbidity and mortality especially in low resource settings.  Information on herbal remedy use, previous preterm birth and low social-economic status and their association with incidence of preterm birth in Kenya is scanty. Objectives: To determine the use of herbal remedy use in pregnancy, previous preterm birth and low socio-economic status as risk factors for Preterm Birth in Kitui County among the immediate post-partum mothers. Methods: Unmatched case control study with a 1:4 ratio of cases to controls. The study was done in Kitui and Mwingi District Hospitals.  A total of 107 mothers with preterm birth (cases) and 453 mothers with term births (controls) were eligible and administered structured interviews. Results: Of the sample, 98% of cases resided in rural areas compared to 90% of controls.  The cases had a higher parity and were more likely to belong to the lowest three and four levels of socio-economic status. On multivariate logistic regression analysis, predictors of preterm birth were: preeclampsia (OR=9.06 [2.60-31.63], p=0.001), previous preterm, (OR=9.31 [2.82-30.68], p<0.001), low socioeconomic status (OR=1.51 [1.05-2.16], p=0.03), herbal use in first trimester for 2-5 days (OR=11.10 [4.34-28.41], p<0.001), herbal use in first trimester for 6-10 days (OR=44.87,[4.99-403.87] p=0.001), and herbal use in second trimester for 6-10 days (OR=16.43 [4.53-59.57], p<0.001). Use of prescribed folic acid in second trimester for more than 31 days was associated with lower risk of preterm birth (OR=0.20 [0.12-0.34], p<0.001). Conclusion: Herbal use in pregnancy regardless of gestation, previous preterm birth and low socio-economic status and are risk factors for preterm birth in Kitui County Kenya.  Interventions targeted to reduction of these risk factors will be an important additional prong in the reduction of preterm birth. Key words: Preterm birth, herbal remedy, risk factor

Willingness to pay for quality traits and implications for sweetpotato variety breeding: case of Mozambique

Despite decades of research and dissemination of improved sweetpotato varieties, uptake at scale remains low and envisaged development goals of food security and livelihoods remain elusive. This is despite demonstrated impacts of such technologies in combating food and nutrition insecurity, amidst global challenges like climate change. Growing evidence show that end-user acceptance of improved varieties is critical in the widespread adoption of such varieties, and inclusion of the heterogenous preferences of diverse sets of end-users in the variety development process is therefore critical. With global changes in weather and consumption patterns, end-users are now demanding varieties that are more suitable to their unique consumption needs, production environments, new market demands and have desired processing characteristics. Such dynamics in demand have necessitated rethinking of breeding programs from the traditional focus on agronomic gains such as increase in yields and yield protection, to consideration of more nuanced quality-related traits that appeal to targeted populations. Against this background, this study sets out to explore the decision-making behavior of Mozambican sweetpotato producers in variety selection, and the implicit value placed on different sweetpotato traits, including the often ignored but crucial quality traits. The aim of the study is to identify the economic valuation of such traits and how they are traded off in variety selection decisions, to allow for prioritization in breeding efforts. To achieve this, an exploratory sequential design in a predominantly quantitative mixed-method design was adopted for the study. First, based on the insights from a gender disaggregated qualitative assessment among sweetpotato growers and consumers and in consultation with breeding experts from Mozambique, the most preferred sweetpotato variety traits in the regions of study were established. These traits were then utilized in the design of a choice experiment, implemented among 860 sweetpotato producers spread across four sweetpotato growing regions in the country. Finally, a generalized multinomial logit model was used to estimate implicit economic valuation of each of the considered trait, as well as heterogenous valuation of such traits across gender, education and age of respondent groups. Results from the study show that producers have a high preference for quality-related traits, with preference for Vitamin A being higher than that for drought tolerance, while dry matter content is valued about the same as drought tolerance. While scoring significantly lower than Vitamin A, drought tolerance and dry matter content, other quality-related traits like root size and sweet taste also have significant positive values implying their importance in informing sweetpotato variety choice. In terms of gender heterogeneity, flesh color is highly valued among the women sub-sample. The study identifies Vitamin A, dry matter content, sweet taste, and medium to big root size, as the key preferred quality traits in Mozambique, in that order. The results imply that these quality traits should be pursued as a suite in breeding objectives, in combination with essential agronomic traits such as high yields and drought tolerance, for higher acceptance and demand of improved sweetpotato varieties across the country

Vector competence of populations of Aedes aegypti from three distinct cities in Kenya for chikungunya virus

BACKGROUND : In April, 2004, chikungunya virus (CHIKV) re-emerged in Kenya and eventually spread to the islands in the Indian Ocean basin, South-East Asia, and the Americas. The virus, which is often associated with high levels of viremia in humans, is mostly transmitted by the urban vector, Aedes aegypti. The expansion of CHIKV presents a public health challenge both locally and internationally. In this study, we investigated the ability of Ae. aegypti mosquitoes from three distinct cities in Kenya; Mombasa (outbreak prone), Kisumu, and Nairobi (no documented outbreak) to transmit CHIKV. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS : Aedes aegypti mosquito populations were exposed to different doses of CHIKV (105.6±7.5 plaque-forming units[PFU]/ml) in an infectious blood meal. Transmission was ascertained by collecting and testing saliva samples from individual mosquitoes at 5, 7, 9, and 14 days post exposure. Infection and dissemination were estimated by testing body and legs, respectively, for individual mosquitoes at selected days post exposure. Tissue culture assays were used to determine the presence of infectious viral particles in the body, leg, and saliva samples. The number of days post exposure had no effect on infection, dissemination, or transmission rates, but these rates increased with an increase in exposure dose in all three populations. Although the rates were highest in Ae. aegypti from Mombasa at titers 106.9 PFU/ml, the differences observed were not statistically significant (χ2 1.04, DF = 1, P 0.31). Overall, about 71% of the infected mosquitoes developed a disseminated infection, of which 21% successfully transmitted the virus into a capillary tube, giving an estimated transmission rate of about 10% for mosquitoes that ingested 106.9 PFU/ml of CHIKV. All three populations of Ae. aegypti were infectious as early as 5±7 days post exposure. On average, viral dissemination only occurred when body titers were 104 PFU/ ml in all populations. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE : Populations of Ae. aegypti from Mombasa, Nairobi, and Kisumu were all competent laboratory vectors of CHIKV. Viremia of the infectious blood meal was an important factor in Ae. aegypti susceptibility and transmission of CHIKV. In addition to viremia levels, temperature and feeding behavior of Ae. aegypti may also contribute to the observed disease patterns.The National Institutes of Health (NIH), Grant No. 1R01AI099736-01A1 to RS, UK's Department for International Development (DFID), Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida), the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) and the Kenyan Government.http://www.plosntds.orgam2017Medical Virolog

Evaluation of chickpea genotypes for resistance to Ascochyta blight (Ascochyta rabiei) disease in the dry highlands of Kenya

Chickpea (Cicer arietinum) is an edible legume grown widely for its nutritious seed, which is rich in protein, minerals, vitamins and dietary fibre. It’s a new crop in Kenya whose potential has not been utilized fully due to abiotic and biotic stresses that limit its productivity. The crop is affected mainly by Ascochyta blight (AB) which is widespread in cool dry highlands causing up to 100% yield loss. The objective of this study was to evalu- ate the resistance of selected chickpea genotypes to AB in dry highlands of Kenya. The study was done in 2 sites (Egerton University-Njoro) and Agricultural Training centre-ATC-Koibatek) for one season during long rains of 2010/2011 growing season. Thirty six genotypes from reference sets and mini-core samples introduced from ICR- SAT were evaluated. There were significant (P<0.001) differences in AB responses and grain yield performance in test genotypes in both sites. AB was more severe at Egerton-Njoro (mean score 5.7) than ATC-Koibatek (mean score 4.25), with subsequent low grain yield. Genotypes ICC7052, ICC4463, ICC4363, ICC2884, ICC7150, ICC15294 and ICC11627 had both highest grain yield in decreasing order (mean range 1790-1053 Kg ha-1) and best resist- ance to AB. Further evaluation is needed in other multi-locations and their use in breeding program determined especially because of their undesirable black seed color. Commercial varieties (LDT068, LDT065, Chania desi 1, and Saina K1) were all susceptible to AB, but with grain yield >1200 Kg ha-1. The findings of the study showed that chickpea should be sown during the short rains (summer) in the dry highlands of Kenya when conditions are drier and warmer and less favorable for AB infection. However yield could be increased by shifting the sowing date from dry season to long rain (winter) thus avoiding terminal drought if AB resistant cultivars with acceptable agronomic traits could be identified

Accountability for Practical Reasoning Agents

Postprin