Seventh-grade curriculum in probability (a guide for teachers)

A review of the literature indicates that teachers try to make connections between experimental and theoretical probabilities while teaching their students, but these connections are often not very clear. This greatly increases misconceptions students have about probability. This thesis presents a treatment of teaching probability that is geared for seventh grade and intended to minimize the misconceptions that both teachers and students may have. We present a concise mathematical exposition of finite probability models as well as collection of examples and activities, so as to help teachers and students organize their thinking and minimize misconceptions. The various examples and activities suggested in this thesis hopefully will increase the quality of instruction in probability and ultimately motivate the students in this important field of mathematics

On women, cyber-feminism and information security : assessing security threats by gender

Abstract: The continued rise in information security threats has created a sustained risk to the competitiveness of businesses using computerised technology, particularly in Africa. It is posited that employees are the weakest link to the security of information systems across African businesses. The persistent affirmative campaigns in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) has seen a steady rise of women employees entering the Information Technology (IT) industry. On one hand, this has presented new opportunities for women to play a more meaningful and significant contribution to IT in the advent of cyberfeminism. On the other hand, women now constitute great risk to the security of information systems. This emergent trend in Africa challenges the traditional paradigms where men accounted for higher percentages of sophisticated use of and threat to IT systems. The study applied the descriptive research design to describe the level of efficacy presented by women working in South African organisations. The intention was neither to formulate nor to test any hypothesis, but to use descriptive statistics to understand women’s efficacy, and the potential insider threat women could pose. A total number of 155 closed-ended questionnaires were distributed to women and men working in businesses operating in South Africa. 150 responses were obtained. A computerised statistical analysis software was used to analyse data. Results show that while both women and men had a reasonable understanding of information security tenets, women were perceived to be more cautious regarding how they expressed this understanding. The work is of significance to those in business practice in Africa because of the understanding that men will no longer be seen as the primary malefactors for information security threats. The implication for this study is that as more women are encouraged to pursue STEM disciplines, they will equally become weak links to the security of information systems. It is theorised that gender will no longer be a factor in determining security threat

Public health laboratory systems development in East Africa through training in laboratory management and field epidemiology

Laboratories are integral to the delivery of quality health care and for public health functions; however laboratory systems and services are often neglected in resource-poor settings such as the East African region. In order to sustainably strengthen national laboratory systems in resource-poor countries, there is a need to train laboratory personnel to work in clinical as well as public health laboratories. In 2004,Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, and South Sudan began training public health laboratory workers jointly with field epidemiologists in the Kenya Field Epidemiology and Laboratory Training Program (FELTP), and later through the Tanzania FELTP, as a strategy to strengthen public health laboratories. These programs train laboratory epidemiologists through a two-year public health leadership development course, and also offer various types of short course training for frontline staff. The FELTP laboratory graduates in Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, and South Sudan are working in their respective countries to strengthen public health laboratory systems while the short course participants provide a pool of frontline implementers with the capacity to support the lower tiers of health systems, as well as serve as surge capacity for the regions and the national level. Through training competent public health laboratory workers, the East African ministries of health, in collaboration with other regional partners and stakeholders are now engaged in developing and implementing a holistic approach that will guarantee an overall strengthening of the health system by using well-trained public health laboratory leaders to drive the process. Strengthening public health laboratory medicine in East Africa is critical to improve health-care systems. The experience with the FELTP model in East Africa is a step in the right direction towards ensuring a stronger role for the laboratory in public health

Psychotic Symptoms in Kenya - Prevalence, Risk Factors, and Relationship with Common Mental Disorders

There have been few epidemiological surveys to establish prevalence and associated risk factors of psychosis in Sub-Saharan Africa. This paper reports a population- based epidemiological survey in rural Kenya of the prevalence of psychotic symptoms and their relationship with demographic, socio-economic and other risk factors. A random sample of 2% of all adults living in Maseno, Kisumu District of Nyanza province, Kenya (50,000 population) were studied, aiming for a sample size of 1,000 people. The psychosis screening questionnaire was used to assess the prevalence of psychotic symptoms in the preceding twelve months. The response rate was 87.6%. The prevalence of single psychotic symptoms in rural Kenya was 8% of the adult population, but only 0.6% had two symptoms and none had three or more psychotic symptoms in this sample size. Psychotic symptoms were evenly distributed across this relatively poor rural population and were significantly associated with presence of common mental disorders, and to a lesser extent with poor physical health and housing type. We conclude that single psychotic symptoms are relatively common in rural Kenya and rates are elevated in those with CMD, poor physical health and poor housing

Is more better? The effects of private health insurance on mental health care in a Kenyan mental hospital

In 2004, Kenya’s parliament passed a promising bill to create a National Social Health Insurance Fund to pay for outpatient and hospital care for all Kenyans, but the bill was not signed into law out of concerns over financing. Today, Kenya’s only social insurance is the National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF), which is under investigation by the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission. Private health insurance (PHI) remains one alternative to out-of-pocket payments for financing healthcare, including mental healthcare, among those who can afford it. In Kenya, PHI is used by 2% of the population and accounts for 4% of health expenditure. Critics of PHI argue that it leads to spiralling use and costs of services, while proponents suggest that it increases early access to services and improves financial protection

Catalytic Properties of Luminescent Tris-Homoleptic Cyclometalated Iridium(III) Complexes in the Oxidation of Morin in Visible Light

The photo-oxidation of Morin, 2′,3,4′,5,7-pentahydroxyflavone by six luminescent homoleptic tris-cyclometalated iridium(III) complexes was investigated with the aim of evaluating the catalytic properties of the complexes. The Iridium complexes were synthesized using 2-(1-naphthyl)-pyridine (npy) ligand and its derivatives such as npy-OMe, npy-CF3 and npy-Me to form Tris-homoleptic cyclometalated complexes; Ir(npy)3, Ir(npy-OMe)3, Ir(npy-CF3)3, Ir(npy-Me)3, Ir(Me-npy-Me)3, and Ir(Me-npy)3 with substitution at para position relative to nitrogen. The ligand substitution positions were found to influence the excited state lifetimes, where the complexes exhibited long lifetimes, τ, 1.4 – 3.6 μs, ensuring time for substrates to react before relaxation to ground state. All the six complexes displayed reversible or pseudo reversible redox processes with ground state oxidation potential range of 0.57 to 0.93V compared to Standard Calomel Electrode in CH2Cl2. The complexes degraded morin with rate constants kobs between 0.023-0.036 s -1 within a timescale of 12 minutes. The Ir(npy-Me)3 complex was found to have a high degradation with a rate constant of kobs = 0.036 s -1. Degradation reactions using all the six Iridium (III) complexes photoredox catalysts were found to follow first order kinetics and ca. 10-fold faster compared to similar oxidative reactions

Sustained reduction in prevalence of lymphatic filariasis infection in spite of missed rounds of mass drug administration in an area under mosquito nets for malaria control

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The Global Programme to Eliminate Lymphatic Filariasis (GPELF) was established by the World Health Organisation (WHO) in 2000 with the goal of eliminating lymphatic filariasis (LF) as a public health problem globally by 2020. Mass drug administration (MDA) of antifilarial drugs is the principal strategy recommended for global elimination. Kenya launched a National Programme for Elimination of Lymphatic Filariasis (NPELF) in Coast Region in 2002. During the same year a longitudinal research project to monitor trends of LF infection during MDA started in a highly endemic area in Malindi District. High coverage of insecticide treated nets (ITNs) in the coastal region has been associated with dramatic decline in hospital admissions due to malaria; high usage of ITNs is also expected to have an impact on LF infection, also transmitted by mosquitoes.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Four rounds of MDA with diethylcarbamazine citrate (DEC) and albendazole were given to 8 study villages over an 8-year period. Although annual MDA was not administered for several years the overall prevalence of microfilariae declined significantly from 20.9% in 2002 to 0.9% in 2009. Similarly, the prevalence of filarial antigenaemia declined from 34.6% in 2002 to 10.8% in 2009. All the examined children born since the start of the programme were negative for filarial antigen in 2009.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Despite the fact that the study villages missed MDA in some of the years, significant reductions in infection prevalence and intensity were observed at each survey. More importantly, there were no rebounds in infection prevalence between treatment rounds. However, because of confounding variables such as insecticide-treated bed nets (ITNs), it is difficult to attribute the reduction to MDA alone as ITNs can lead to a significant reduction in exposure to filariasis vectors. The results indicate that national LF elimination programmes should be encouraged to continue provision of MDA albeit constraints that may lead to missing of MDA in some years.</p

Youth Savings Patterns and Performance in Colombia, Ghana, Kenya, and Nepal: YouthSave Research Report 2015

If offered an opportunity to save via formal financial services, will youth in developing countries participate, save, and accumulate assets? This is one of the key questions in YouthSave, a savings initiative implemented in four developing countries, targeting youth aged 12 to 18 years, from predominantly low-income households. This report presents two-year findings from a study that tracks account uptake and saving patterns and performance in youth savings accounts in four countries: Colombia, Ghana, Kenya, and Nepal. This savings demand assessment (SDA) is ambitious in its attempt to include systematic data on as many youth savers as possible. The result is a very large dataset that enables us to report in detail who is saving, and factors associated with saving patterns and performance. The report is divided into four sections: the ten key findings; the project summary; the body, which consists of Chapters 1 through 9 and summarizes information across all four countries; and the appendices, which include country-specific details and summary tables. A summary of findings appears at the end of each chapter