Relationship Between Employee Innovativeness and Perceived Service Quality by Government Ministries in Kenya

Entrepreneurial behaviour is the willingness to render a service to a Kenyan citizen in a pleasant, satisfying manner. It can also be as involving as rebelling against an existing political regime and starting a new nation. In government ministries in Kenya, entrepreneurial behaviour can surface in the form of a government officer discharging their duties in a different and valuable way from the norm. It is against this background that this study sought to establish the influence of employees’ innovativeness on perceived service quality by government ministries in Kenya. The specific objective was to analyze the influence of employee innovativeness on perceived service quality by government ministries in Kenya. The study adopted descriptive survey research design. This being a census study; all the executive officers of every ministry were selected to take part in the study as they are perceived to be knowledgeable on the issues under study and for which they are either responsible for their execution or they personally execute them. The questionnaire was pre-tested on pilot respondents who were not part of the study respondents but who were knowledgeable in the study aspects in order to ensure their validity and relevance.  The data collected was analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Cronbach’s alpha coefficient was used to measure the reliability of the scale, which was used to assess the interval consistency among the research instrument items. The regression results showed that employee innovativeness had significant and positive effect on perceived service quality by government ministries in Kenya. The study recommends that government ministries in Kenya should, therefore, strive to improve on their employees’ innovativeness because it was found to have a significant and positive effect on perceived service quality by government ministries in Kenya

Influence of Employee Pro-activeness on Perceived Service Quality by Government Ministries in Kenya

In government ministries in Kenya, entrepreneurial behaviour can surface in the form of a government officer discharging their duties in a different and valuable way from the norm. It is against this background that this study sought to establish the influence of employees’ pro-activeness on perceived service quality by government ministries in Kenya. The specific objective was to examine the influence of employees’ pro-activeness on perceived service quality by government ministries in Kenya. The study adopted descriptive survey research design. This being a census study; all the executive officers of every ministry were selected to take part in the study as they are perceived to be knowledgeable on the issues under study and for which they are either responsible for their execution or they personally execute them. The questionnaire was pre-tested on pilot respondents who were not part of the study respondents but who were knowledgeable in the study aspects in order to ensure their validity and relevance.  The data collected was analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Cronbach’s alpha coefficient was used to measure the reliability of the scale, which was used to assess the interval consistency among the research instrument items. The regression results showed that employees’ pro-activeness had significant and positive effect on perceived service quality by government ministries in Kenya. The study recommends that government ministries in Kenya should, therefore, strive to improve on employees’ pro-activeness because it was found to have a significant and positive effect on perceived service quality by government ministries in Kenya

Modeling Identity Disclosure Risk Estimation Using Kenyan Situation

Identity disclosure risk is an essential consideration in data anonymization aimed at preserving privacy and utility. The risk is regionally dependent. Therefore, there is a need for a regional empirical approach in addition to a theoretical approach in modeling disclosure risk estimation. Reviewed literature pointed to three influencers of the risk. However, we did not find literature on the combined effects of the three influencers and their predictive power. To fill the gap, this study modeled the risk estimation predicated on the combined effect of the three predictors using the Kenyan situation. The study validated the model by conducting an actual re-identification quasi-experiment. The adversary’s analytical competence, distinguishing power of the anonymized datasets, and linkage mapping of the identified datasets are presented as the predictors of the risk estimation. For each predictor, manifest variables are presented. Our presented model extends previous models and is capable of producing a realistic risk estimation

Factors Influencing Willingness to Adopt Recommended Bambara groundnut (Vigna subterranea L. Verdc) Agronomic Practices Among Smallholder Farmers in Semi-Arid Lands of Embu County, Kenya

The study assessed the willingness of smallholder farmers to adopt the recommended agronomic practices of Bambara groundnut in semi-arid lands of Embu County. The study was carried out in three sub-counties i.e. Mbeere North, Mbeere South, and Embu West, of Embu County. Data were extracted with the help of a well-structured questionnaire which was distributed to 384 smallholder farmers who were participants at the farmers’ field schools at the three sites. The data were analyzed using means, percentages, and logistic regression. Results of the study revealed that 60.94% of the farmers were willing to adopt the recommended agronomic practices. The willingness of the farmers to adopt the recommended agronomic practices was influenced by farming experience, farm size, extension contact, participation in farmers’ groups, cropping technologies adoption, and intercropping system used by the farmers. The application of the farmer participatory approach is an innovative way of introducing and promoting less popular but sustainably proven agricultural technologies among smallholder farmers. This is a climate-smart strategy to address the challenges of food in the area. Awareness creation among the farmers using the right extension channels can increase farmers’ willingness to adopt climate-smart technologies such as the production of the highly nutritive and drought tolerant Bambara groundnut in dry areas

Factors associated with risky sexual behavior among HIV negative partners in HIV discordant relationships in Nairobi, Kenya

Introduction: Whereas risky sexual behavior influences HIV acquisition, little information is available on risk taking practices among negative partners in HIV discordant relationships in our settings. This study sought to determine the associated factors among this population in Nairobi.Methods: This study was a cross-sectional descriptive study and 133 HIV negative partners participated in the study.Results: Out of the 133 participants, 66.9% were male and 33.1% were female. Overall, 44.4% of the study participants reported inconsistent condom use, 14.3% reported having another sexual partner and 30% reported ever engaging in sexual activities under the influence of alcohol. Monthly earnings (p- 0.02), alcohol use (p- 0.03) and the index partner being on anti-retroviral medication (p-0.02) were significantly associated with having another sexual partner. Focus group discussion findings showed that male gender, alcohol use and the duration of the relationship influenced the decision to use condoms while male gender influenced having another sexual partner.Conclusion: Risky sexual behavior practices still occur among the HIV negative partners in discordant relationships. More education and sensitization should be made on the risks associated with this behavior so as to reduce the risk of HIV infection from their infected partners.Afr J Health Sci. 2013; 26:324-33

The influence of host and pathogen genotypes on symptom severity in banana streak disease

Banana is the fourth most important food crop worldwide. However, its production has been threatened by banana streak disease, caused by banana streak virus (BSV). Despite this situation, little is known about the inter-relationships between symptom severity and cultivar/virus genotypes. Symptom severity assessment for sixty five symptomatic samples was carefully done. The rolling circle amplification technique was used to identify the virus species (isolate) infecting each sample. The Mysore virus isolates (BSMysV) and the banana cultivars containing the balbisiana (B) component were associated with the most severe banana streak disease symptoms.Key words: Banana streak disease, symptom severity, banana streak virus (BSV) isolate, rolling circle amplification

"Sometimes it is difficult for us to stand up and change this": an analysis of power within priority-setting for health following devolution in Kenya

Background Practices of power lie at the heart of policy processes. In both devolution and priority-setting, actors seek to exert power through influence and control over material, human, intellectual and financial resources. Priority-setting arises as a consequence of the needs and demand exceeding the resources available, requiring some means of choosing between competing demands. This paper examines the use of power within priority-setting processes for healthcare resources at sub-national level, following devolution in Kenya. Methods We interviewed 14 national level key informants and 255 purposively selected respondents from across the health system in ten counties. These qualitative data were supplemented by 14 focus group discussions (FGD) involving 146 community members in two counties. We conducted a power analysis using Gaventa’s power cube and Veneklasen’s expressions of power to interpret our findings. Results We found Kenya’s transition towards devolution is transforming the former centralised balance of power, leading to greater ability for influence at the county level, reduced power at national and sub-county (district) levels, and limited change at community level. Within these changing power structures, politicians are felt to play a greater role in priority-setting for health. The interfaces and tensions between politicians, health service providers and the community has at times been felt to undermine health related technical priorities. Underlying social structures and discriminatory practices generally continue unchanged, leading to the continued exclusion of the most vulnerable from priority-setting processes. Conclusions Power analysis of priority-setting at county level after devolution in Kenya highlights the need for stronger institutional structures, processes and norms to reduce the power imbalances between decision-making actors and to enable community participation

Histological and MRI brain atlas of the common shrew, Sorex araneus, with brain region-specific gene expression profiles

The common shrew, Sorex araneus, is a small mammal of growing interest in neuroscience research, as it exhibits dramatic and reversible seasonal changes in individual brain size and organization (a process known as Dehnel’s phenomenon). Despite decades of studies on this system, the mechanisms behind the structural changes during Dehnel’s phenomenon are not yet understood. To resolve these questions and foster research on this unique species, we present the first combined histological, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and transcriptomic atlas of the common shrew brain. Our integrated morphometric brain atlas provides easily obtainable and comparable anatomic structures, while transcriptomic mapping identified distinct expression profiles across most brain regions. These results suggest that high-resolution morphological and genetic research is pivotal for elucidating the mechanisms underlying Dehnel’s phenomenon while providing a communal resource for continued research on a model of natural mammalian regeneration. Morphometric and NCBI Sequencing Read Archive are available at https://doi.org/10.17617/3.HVW8ZNpublishe