The physiological status of the tsetse fly, glossina fuscipes fuscipes, attracted to different hosts and control devices and its implications for control of human and animal african trypanosomiasis

A dissertation submitted to the faculty of Science, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science. Johannesburg, 2014.Human African Trypanosomiasis (HAT) is transmitted by Glossina species and remains a serious health problem in Africa. Many aspects of control of the disease have been implemented throughout the years but vector control of tsetse flies has proven to be the most efficient long-term solution. Vector control interventions have been implemented for many tsetse species but relatively little is known about the behaviour of the riverine species, Glossina fuscipes fuscipes. Increased knowledge of this species would improve vector control interventions. This study aimed at: i) understanding the behaviour of tsetse flies around visual devices and odour baits; ii) understanding the behaviour of the flies with regard to human activities; iii) understanding the interaction between the nutritional status of tsetse flies and their attraction to various trapping devices (biconical traps and electric nets); and iv) establishing an age determination curve for field-caught flies. Results showed that visual targets were better attractants then odour-based ones and electric nets performed better than biconical traps. The sticky traps caught 10x more flies (males) than the stationary biconical traps. Sticky traps caught more young flies than the biconical traps which caught more old flies. An age curve was established for flies ranging from 1 day to 60 days old and the fluorescence-based age determination technique, using pteridine levels, has been shown to work for this species. Understanding the behaviour of tsetse flies around trapping devices should lead to improved trapping efficiency. The data gathered will be of importance in assisting with designing and running the Lake Victoria region control operations planned by PATTEC and it will have application in G. f. fuscipes endemic regions in other parts of Africa

Mathematical Modelling of Cholera Incorporating The Dynamics of The Induced Achlorhydria Condition And Treatment

Cholera is an infectious disease caused by the bacterium Vibrio cholerae rampant in countries with inadequate access to clean water and proper sanitation. In this work a mathematical model for cholera incorporating the dynamics of the induced achlorhydria condition and treatment is analysed. Michaelis-menten equation in microbiology is used to show variation in pH level of the hydrochloric acid in the digestive system. Vibrio cholerae are acid labile and thrive well in alkaline medium.Once the gastric pH is raised by factors like antacid drugs or surgery the stomach medium become suitable for Vibrio cholerae to thrive and multiply very fast than healthy people. This lead to cholera transmission as the infected individuals with induced achlorhydria condition shed more folds of Vibrio cholerae to the environment. If individuals with achlorhydria condition are treated, the effect of cholera outbreak is reduced. The existence and stability of the equilibrium points is established. Analysis of the model show that the disease free equilibrium is both locally and globally asymptotically stable when the basic reproduction number is less than unity, while the endemic equilibrium is locally asymptotically stable when the reproduction number is greaterthan unity. Numerical simulations is done using MATLAB software to show the effect of the induced achlorhydria condition on the spread of cholera and individuals with this condition suffer severe infection during cholera outbreak

Optimal Production Plan of Food Crop Production in Peri-Urban Areas of Adamawa State, Nigeria

The study analyzed optimal food crop production plan and resource allocation among peri-urban farmers in Adamawa State, Nigeria. Primary data were collected from 198 peri-urban farmers using structured questionnaire. Linear programming model were used as analytical tools. The result revealed that the optimal production plan gave a programme value of N49, 423.718 as the gross margin of production and recommended the production of only two out of the ten enterprises included in the model. These enterprises are the sole cowpea (0.247 ha) and maize/sorghum (0.951 ha) enterprises. The resources’ allocation pattern revealed only two of the constraints was fully utilized in arriving at the optimal solution. These land size (ha) and agrochemicals (litres), their corresponding shadow prices are N17,511.95, N5,810.02 respectively. The optimal farm plan recommends that peri-urban farmers should allocate their resources in such a way that the two crops enterprises are produced according to these hectares allocation to maximize total Gross Margin of N49, 423.718 per hectares. It also recommended the problem of inefficient allocation, farmers should be given proper orientation and basic training in major farm management techniques; this will help them to be more efficient in allocation of productive inputs. Keywords: Optimal production Plan, Peri- urban, food, crops, Agriculture and Adamawa State

Mobile Learning: A Bridging Technology for varying Learner Entry Behavior

The use of technology in teaching and learning processes has brought a major shift in the way instructors have to design instructions. The cost of mobile devices has declined with time making the devices affordable. All undergraduate learners own a mobile device and their expectations and demand for access of learning content on these devices has increased. While learner’s entry skill levels into a course unit have been a great concern to instructors, the use of a mobile learning system can bridge this concern. The instructors need to focus on making the mobile learning experience more exiting to the learner.  This paper has explored how varying learner entry behavior is bridged through an experiment by using a control group and a treatment group. The treatment group was instructed through mobile learning system while the control group was instructed using traditional face to face with no support of mobile learning technology. The results have shown that varied learner entry skills do not determine the intended learning outcome. The learners with or without prior skill and instructed using the support of mobile learning system performs without bias of prior skills. Keywords: Mobile Learning, Learner Entry Behavior, instructional design mode

Social Causes of Pregnancies Among Secondary School Girls: Implication for Counselling in Pokot South Sub County of West Pokot County, Kenya

Pregnancies among secondary school girls are on the rise globally and in Kenya. As a social problem, it has adverse effects on the girls’ academic performance, and career development as it results in girls dropping out of school and some are forced to early marriages. Despite efforts to prevent girls dropping out of school due to pregnancies, there is still evidence of high prevalence of pregnancy among girls in secondary schools. This study therefore sought to establish social, cultural and economic causes of secondary school girls’ pregnancies: Implication for counseling in Pokot South Sub County of West Pokot County, Kenya. The researcher adopted ex-post-facto survey research design. There were 18 public Secondary Schools in Pokot South-Sub County which had target population of 2436, constituted 18 head teachers, 18 head teacher counselors and 2400 students. Six girls’ schools were purposefully chosen with population of 462 forms twos and threes who were enrolled by March 2017. A sample size of 210 students, in addition of 6 head teachers and 6 head teacher counselors to a total of 222 who participated in the study. A similar questionnaire for all respondents and oral interview schedule for teacher counselors and head teachers was used to generate the data. Reliability value obtained was 0.82. The content validity of the instrument was ascertained with the assistance of the supervisor and experts from the Department of Psychology, Counseling and Educational Foundations of Egerton University. Data collected was analyzed with the help of Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) computer program and presented in tables of frequencies and percentages. The study established Social causes of pregnancy in the area of study as peer influence, mass media and neglect by parents. Cultural causes as silence behavior, it is taboo to talk about sex and sexuality matters and preserving tradition and economic as poverty, unemployment and infrastructure as among the factors predisposing Secondary School girls to pregnancy. The researcher recommends that the Ministry of Education should emphasize the importance of school counselor by training more and employing them. School administration to ensure training peer counselors and together with the Board of management to support the counseling department in school by making sure they have necessary materials, rooms and personnel that will facilitate the implementation of guiding and counseling programmes and policies. It is further recommended that the Ministry of Education and the County governments should develop advocacy programmes like bursaries and community awareness that mitigates against the girl child pregnancies. The Ministry of Education should upscale the counseling programmes in the schools in order to assist students in making better decisions on education and careers. Keywords: Pregnancies, adolescence, counseling, peer, teacher counselo

Modelling an Institutional Mobile Learning Readiness Analyser

Due to the affordability, ease of use and availability of mobile devices, many people in Africa and developing countries have acquired at least a mobile device. The penetration of mobile devices places many learning institution in a position to adopt mobile learning, however there are few tools for measuring mobile learning readiness for an institution. The research work presented by this paper has developed a method or framework to be a tool for measuring the mobile learning readiness. The Kenya Education Network (KENET) e-readiness framework was modified through a logical framework to fit mobile indicators. Staging method used had value 1as least while 4 as the best. An institution of higher learning (University) was used to validate the framework. A survey results used revealed the institution was ready to adopt mobile learning as a means of delivering teaching and learning. The institution scored a mobile learning readiness index of 2.61 above the benchmark of 2.5 set by KENET. The researcher recommends use of mobile learning readiness framework to all learning institutions intending to implement mobile learning. Keywords: Mobile Learning, Readiness index, Distance Learners, KENE

Levels Of Natural Radionuclides in Khat (Catha Edulis) Leaves and Soils in Selected Areas In Embu County, Kenya

Over the past years, khat (Catha edulis) has been the major cash crop grown in some parts of the Eastern side of Kenya.The leaves from this plant are chewed for their stimulating effect. However, some studies have reported detrimental effects on the users of khat. This research established the level of human exposure due to radiation by natural sources in the khat growing areas of Embu County by measuring the specific activities of 238U, 232Th and 40K,estimate the dose rate absorbed and obtain the hazard indices due to these radionuclides. A total of 30 samples were collected from different areas distributed throughout Embu County, 15 for khat and 15 for soil samples. The samples were then prepared and analyzed using the Thallium activated Sodium Iodide Detector (NaI(Tl). Mean activities for khat leaves were obtained as 875.8±11 Bq/kg, 10.1±1 Bq/kg and 51.1±4 Bq/kg for 40K, 238U and 232Th respectively. The activities of soil in the same region were obtained as 344±12 Bq/kg, 22±11 Bq/kg and 33±5 Bq/kg for 40K, 238U and 232Th respectively. The mean absorbed dose rates obtained for soil was 44±0 nGyh-1 while the average Annual Effective Dose (AED) for ingested radionuclides for khat was 0.45±0.19 mSv/y. Average values of soil hazard indices for soil 0.26, 0.32, 0.70 and 0.76 for external index (Hex), internal index (Hin), gamma index (?) and Excess Lifetime Cancer Risk (ELCR) respectively. All the indices in this work were within the safe limit

Preservice Student Teachers’ Attitudes Towards Chemistry Teaching: The Case Of Egerton University, Kenya

A ZJER study on the attitude of pre-service student teachers in Kenya towards the teaching Chemistry.The purpose of this study was to determine the attitudes held by pre-service chemistry student teachers. A survey was conducted on Egerton University students in the 2002/2003 academic year. The sample included all the Bachelor of Education (Science) pre-service chemistry students. These students had just covered the Chemistry Subject Methods course and were about to start their teaching practice programme. The sample consisted of 71 male and 34 female student teachers, making a total of 105 respondents. A modified Chemistry Teachers’ Attitudes Questionnaire (CTAQ) for measuring chemistry teachers’ attitudes towards teaching was developed and used for data collection. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics, t-test and Analysis of Variance (ANOVA). The results show that pre-service chemistry student teachers have high positive attitudes towards teaching. Student teachers’ gender and subject combination have no influence on their attitudes towards chemistry teaching. These findings suggest that the current teacher training approach at Egerton University should be maintained and enriched

A Model for Childhood Pneumonia Dynamics

This paper presents a deterministic model for pneumonia transmission and uses the model to assess the potential impact of therapy. The model is based on the Susceptible-Infected-Treatment-Susceptible compartmental structure with the possibility of infected individual recovering from natural immunity. Important epidemiological thresholds such as the basic and control reproduction numbers ( R_oand R_c respectively) and a measure of treatment impact are derived. Infection free point was found to be locally stable but globally unstable. We found that if the control reproduction number is greater than unity, then there is a unique endemic equilibrium point and it is less than unity, the endemic equilibrium point is globally asymptotically stable, and pneumonia will be eliminated. Numerical simulations using Matlab software suggest that, besides the parameters that determine the basic reproduction number, natural immunity plays an important role in pneumonia transmissions and magnitude of the public health impact of therapy. Further, treatment regimens with better efficacy holds great promise for lowering the public health burden of pneumonia disease