33 research outputs found

    Report on the evaluation of surveillance systems relevant to zoonotic diseases in Kenya, 2015: A basis for design of an integrated human–livestock surveillance system

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    The Zoonoses in Livestock in Kenya (ZooLinK) is a project that seeks to enable Kenya develop an effective surveillance programme for zoonotic diseases (infectious diseases transmissible between animals and human beings). The surveillance programme will be integrated across both human and animal health sectors. To achieve this goal the project will work in close collaboration with Kenyan government departments in responsible for animal and human health. As a prelude to the start of the project, an evaluation of the existing surveillance systems for human and animal health was carried out. The evaluation focused on the national surveillance system and the systems at the western part of Kenya (Busia county, Kakamega county and Bungoma county) where the initial programme will be developed. In conducting the evaluation the investigators used key informant interviews, focused group discussion participant questionnaires, audio recordings and observation for data collection. Data analysis for the qualitative data focused on generating themes or theory around the responses obtained in the key informants interviews and focused group discussions. Univariate analysis was performed by use of simple proportions in calculation for surveillance system attributes like sensitivity, completeness, PVP and Timeliness for the human health surveillance systems. The findings of the evaluation revealed that there was poor linkage between animal health surveillance and the human health surveillance systems. None of the systems had surveillance structures dedicated to zoonotic diseases. Most practitioners used clinical signs for diagnosis of diseases with little reference to acceptable case definitions. Laboratory diagnosis in animal health services focused more on suspected notifiable diseases as opposed to being a standard operating procedure for diagnosis. In Human health services the health care facilities that had laboratory within the facility conducted laboratory diagnosis for cases referred by the clinicians. However, some clinicians preferred using clinical signs for diagnosis to avoid the wait or turn-around time in the laboratory. For effective surveillance of zoonoses to be realized it would be advisable to establish surveillance structures specific to zoonoses and the necessary resources allocated to the surveillance activities. In addition, an integrated approach that incorporated both human and animal disease surveillance should be employed in the surveillance of zoonoses

    Genetic Characterization of the Genus ‘Barbus’ (Cyprinidae) in the Lake Victoria Drainage System, Kenya

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    The genus ‘Barbus’ belongs to a speciose taxonomically complex and heterogeneous assemblage of cyprinid fish. In Lake Victoria drainage basin in Kenya, ten endemic species of ‘Barbus’ are reported, which play a significant role in food security and socio-economic development of the local community. Although these species are identified using morphological characters, confusion may occur when trying to distinguish morphologically similar species. Recent molecular work in the region has suggested presence of introgression within certain ‘Barbus’ species further complicating the taxonomy and species identification in the group. In this study, we obtained cytochrome b and GH-intron 2 gene sequences of nine ‘Barbus’ species sampled in the Lake Victoria drainage basin in Kenya. We conducted Maximum likelihood and Bayesian phylogenetic analyses to establish their evolutionary relationships in relation to other ‘Barbus’. The results showed distinct lineages of ‘Barbus’ species not subjected to introgression/hybridization. Herein, we present new sequences of cytochrome b and GH DNA for small African ‘Barbus’. We also report new sequences of cytochrome b for Labeobarbus altianalis sampled from the study site. The analyses further established ‘B.’ profundus to be a sister to ‘B.’ anema and not ‘B’. radiatus as originally described, a finding that compliments previous morphometric and meristic data suggesting ‘B.’ profundus to be a distinct species and not a subspecies of ‘B’. radiatus. These results demonstrate that molecular markers can provide additional support to inferences derived from morphological evidences. We hope that the newly established sequences from this study will enrich the online reference database and allow future molecular species identification of the African Barbs. In addition, this study contributes to a better understanding of phylogenetic relationships and diversity of ‘Barbus’ in the Lake Victoria Basin and Africa in general

    Women’s Organising for Self Improvement in Colonial and Post Colonial Kenya: A Historical Analysis

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    Research on women’s activities and interests was spurred by the feminist movement in the 1960s and has sustained its recognition as a genuine field of investigation. Since early 1970s national and international attention has focused on women. In Africa, research on women grew intermittently in the wake of the global feminist movement and despite numerous setbacks it has grown incredibly. It was particularly boosted after the UN Declaration of Women’s Decade in 1975. The declaration of the UN decade for women produced both rhetoric from government officials and feminist leaders about women’s significance in all aspects of life and determined efforts to improve women’s education, economic situation, social status and political participation. Consequently discussions by and about women began to take centre stage and continues to play an important role in contemporary political debate. This means that what was considered the women question in the 19th Century became a central or core issue in the 20th Century. The potential and actual contribution of women to political, cultural, and socio-economic development of Africa and their special needs and problems in development have been reiterated in the expanding literature on women.[1] There is generally an expanded database on the operation of women in society and group context internationally. Such publications have increased as the production of social knowledge on women proliferates. In Kenya women are currently remaining in several research agenda and efforts of many scholars have made the literature on gender and women to increase enormously. Although it is recognised that women are agents of historical change and objects of policy consideration there is still paucity in what can be considered her story in Africa and Kenya specifically. [1] See Ndeda 2002

    Hybrid Power Systems for Commercial Application in Kenya

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    The cost, availability and stability of power are parameters that greatly define the quality of energy supplied by a generating system. A hybrid power system with different sources of energy must be properly designed in order to capitalize on the positive features of the deployed resources. Hybrid power system optimization is a process that allows for deliberate attainment of desired output from a power system. In this paper, a learning institution, East African School of Aviation (EASA) was selected as a case study for investigating the outcome of harnessing local energy resources to serve a commercial consumer in Kenya. A cost competitive hybrid power system was obtained through Simulation and optimization processes

    Similarities In Periods Of Meteorological Variables Over Kenya And Solar Activity Periods

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    Using the fast Fourier transform (FFT) method, we determined the spectral characteristics of some meteorological variables over Kenya and identified the prominent periodicities associated with the variables. The meteorological variables studied are the maximum temperature, mini-mum temperature, average temperature, wind speed, precipitation, relative humidity, solar radia-tion intensity, evaporation and sunshine duration. Data from five terrestrial stations, represent-ing the regional climatic zones in Kenya, were employed in the study. The result reveals periods that are associated with solar activity. It is established that solar forcing is very significant over the Kenyan climate. The Sun-Climate relations were influenced at some locations by local ef-fects such as orography and vegetation.Keywords: periodicity, solar activity, Sun-climate relation

    Public participation in Court Administration

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    A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the Bachelor of Laws degreeThis dissertation examines the role that citizens can play in the administration of courts from a policy formulation point of view. Citizen participation is increasingly being considered a valuable element of citizenship and decision-making. Many theorists claim that citizen participation has positive effects on the quality of democracy. It examines the issue of public participation in Kenyan Courts in addition to finding out if the quality of justice will improve if citizens who are affected by administrative policies of the Judiciary are granted the opportunity to influence those decisions.To explore the role which the citizens may play, this dissertation analyses the laws on which such activities may be based and the virious ways through which the judiciary may reach many people if it were to decide to involve the citizens in policy making

    Association mapping of stem rust race TTKSK resistance in US barley breeding germplasm

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    KEY MESSAGE: Loci conferring resistance to the highly virulent African stem rust race TTKSK were identified in advanced barley breeding germplasm and positioned to chromosomes 5H and 7H using an association mapping approach. ABSTRACT: African races of the stem rust pathogen (Puccinia graminis f. sp. tritici) are a serious threat to barley production worldwide because of their wide virulence. To discover and characterize resistance to African stem rust race TTKSK in US barley breeding germplasm, over 3,000 lines/cultivars were assessed for resistance at the seedling stage in the greenhouse and also the adult plant stage in the field in Kenya. Only 12 (0.3 %) and 64 (2.1 %) lines exhibited a resistance level comparable to the resistant control at the seedling and adult plant stage, respectively. To map quantitative trait loci (QTL) for resistance to race TTKSK, an association mapping approach was conducted, utilizing 3,072 single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers. At the seedling stage, two neighboring SNP markers (0.8 cM apart) on chromosome 7H (11_21491 and 12_30528) were found significantly associated with resistance. The most significant one found was 12_30528; thus, the resistance QTL was named Rpg-qtl-7H-12_30528. At the adult plant stage, two SNP markers on chromosome 5H (11_11355 and 12_31427) were found significantly associated with resistance. This resistance QTL was named Rpg-qtl-5H-11_11355 for the most significant marker identified. Adult plant resistance is of paramount importance for stem rust. The marker associated with Rpg-qtl-5H-11_11355 for adult plant resistance explained only a small portion of the phenotypic variation (0.02); however, this QTL reduced disease severity up to 55.0 % under low disease pressure and up to 21.1 % under heavy disease pressure. SNP marker 11_11355 will be valuable for marker-assisted selection of adult plant stem rust resistance in barley breeding. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s00122-014-2297-8) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users

    Evolution of African barbs from the Lake Victoria drainage system, Kenya

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    The Lake Victoria drainage basin (LVD) in Kenya is home to ten nominal species of small barbs (Enteromius) and one of large barbs (Labeobarbus altianalis). A recent molecular study genetically characterized small barbs in this region and found evidence of introgression between certain species, complicating the taxonomy and species identification of these fishes. This study aimed to extend our understanding on the evolution of these fishes by: (1) determining whether putatively pure individuals of Enteromius cercops are found in the Kenyan LVD, as the previous study only found hybrid individuals of this species in this region; (2) testing the sister relationship between Enteromius profundus, endemic to Lake Victoria, and Enteromius radiatus, also found in Lake Victoria, which had been previously synonymized; (3) examining the phylogenetic relationships of small barbs of the Kenyan LVD with those reported from other ichthyological provinces of Africa; and (4) examining the phylogenetic relationships of Labeobarbus altianalis with other Labeobarbus species. To this end, we obtained mitochondrial Cytochrome b and nuclear Growth Hormone (GH) intron 2 gene sequences of nine Enteromius species from the LVD in Kenya, as well as cytochrome b sequences for L. altianalis. We conducted Maximum likelihood and Bayesian phylogenetic analyses to establish their evolutionary relationships in relation to many other barbs specimens from Africa. Phylogenetic analyses did not reveal instances of hybridization/introgression among the individuals sequenced by us. A sister relationship between E. profundus and E. radiatus was not found. This latter species shows instead a sister relationship with a lineage comprised of two species from West Africa. Other sister relationships between taxa from the East coast and other ecoregions from Africa are observed, suggesting that past drainage connections and vicariant events contributed to the diversification of Enteromius. Finally, only a single haplotype was recovered among the L. altianalis individuals examined, which is most similar to a specimen from Lake Edward in Uganda

    Luo Women Voters/Aspirants and the New Constitutional Dispensation in the March 2013 Kenya Elections: The case of Siaya and Kisumu Counties

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    Introduction Women are slightly over fifty per cent (50%) of world population but occupy only twenty per cent (20%) of political positions. According to Andrea Wikham, they are less than 10% of the world’s leaders and of the 193 member states of the UN, only 21 have either a female Head of State or of Government. Hence despite decades of enfranchisement, only a small fraction of political representatives around the world are women (Wickham, 2013). Given this state of affairs it is clear that ..
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